Scientists predict how the world will end – and say Earth may NOT be swallowed by the sun after all

This is a pretty chilling topic for Monday; How will the world end?

For years it was believed that the Sun would begin to expand in about five billion years, engulfing our planet in the process.

But a new study suggests that may not actually be the case.

Instead, scientists think the Sun’s death throes will push the Earth into space, narrowly avoiding destruction.

Mars will also be spared a fiery fate, scientists say, but Mercury and Venus won’t be so lucky because the two innermost planets will inevitably be swallowed by the sun.

Lead author Mats Esseldeurs, a PhD student at the University of Leuven, explains that the fate of the Earth ‘depends on the delicate balance’ between the two forces.

These are the ‘tidal’ gravitational forces that will pull the Earth towards the sun, and the outward push by the enormous solar winds caused by the sun losing mass as it expands.

“If tidal interactions dominate, the Earth would be engulfed by the sun,” says Mr. Esseldeurs.

‘If the Sun’s mass loss dominates, the Earth will escape into an orbit larger than the radius of its star.’

Using computer simulations, researchers found that the Earth (red line) will be pushed just beyond the expanding sun (blue line).

Stars like our Sun can only remain stable as long as they have a constant source of hydrogen to burn as fuel.

When hydrogen is abundant, the enormous gravitational force is kept in check by pushing outward nuclear fusion in their nuclei.

However, when hydrogen begins to run out at the end of a star’s life, this balance is disrupted and the star begins to collapse.

This collapse makes the core hot enough to fuse helium atoms into carbon, releasing a wave of energy that will initiate nuclear fusion in the outer layers, which will then expand and cool.

The expanding star will then grow into a red giant, becoming 100 to 1000 times larger.

Scientists don’t know exactly how big the sun will get, but even if it doesn’t expand beyond Earth’s current orbit, many researchers believe we’re doomed.

This is due to an effect called tidal dispersion, which will gradually drag our planet towards the sun.

As the sun expands, the Earth’s gravitational pull will create a small bulge or ripple on the sun’s surface; just as the Moon causes Earth’s oceans to swell with tides.

Scientists previously believed that the gravitational effect, called tidal dispersion, would gradually move the Earth out of orbit until it was swallowed by the sun (artist’s impression)

This wave will lag behind the planet like a brake on its orbit, gradually consuming its energy and distributing it towards the sun.

Until very recently, scientists assumed that these tidal forces would suppress the outward thrust of the stellar wind resulting from the sun’s mass loss, leading to the engulfment of the Earth.

But Mr. Esseldeurs and his co-authors now argue that this is due to a poor understanding of the tidal distribution in stars.

Using advanced models, researchers show that the impact of these tidal effects is actually much smaller than previously expected.

They combined these gravitational predictions with observations of mass loss in a nearby star called L2 Puppis, which they described as the sun’s ‘older cousin’.

This allowed scientists to estimate how much solar wind our own sun could produce as it turns into a red giant.

Researchers now believe that Earth could have survived by comparing the push and pull of these competing forces.

Co-author Dr. from CEA Paris-Saclay headquarters in France. Stephane Mathis says: ‘A better understanding of tidal physics and the most advanced constraints we have on mass loss allow us to say that, with the current state of knowledge, the Earth may move away from the sun, contrary to what was previously predicted.’

Scientists now think that the solar wind, created as the Sun loses its mass during its expansion, will push the Earth and resist gravity. Image: Artist’s impression of Earth 5.7 billion years later

But researchers warn that Earth’s fate is still unclear.

They point out that the difference between survival and fiery extinction is highly dependent on the fine balance between gravitational distribution and mass loss.

In the simulations, even a small change in these predictions was enough for the planet to roll towards the sun or fly safely into space.

In articles published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysicsresearchers warn: ‘Given current observational uncertainties in AGB mass loss rates, Earth’s ultimate fate remains uncertain.’

Similarly, even if Earth survives the initial transformation, life on the planet may not last much longer.

After the Sun becomes a red giant, it will gradually burn the last of its fuel and turn into an extremely dense star called a white dwarf.

No longer capable of performing fusion reactions, it will gradually dim and cool over time, leaving the Earth as a freezing, lifeless shell.

The good news is that this won’t happen for at least seven or eight billion years from now.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE EARTH WHEN THE SUN DIES?

It is said that five billion years from now the Sun will turn into a red giant star, one hundred times larger than its current size.

Eventually, it will emit gas and dust, creating an ‘envelope’ of half its mass.

The core will turn into a small white dwarf star. This will shine over thousands of years, illuminating the envelope to form a ring-shaped planetary nebula.

It is said that five billion years from now the Sun will turn into a red giant star one hundred times its current size.

Although this metamorphosis will change the solar system, scientists are not sure what will happen to the third rock from the Sun.

We already know that our sun will become larger and brighter, possibly destroying all forms of life on our planet.

But it’s unclear whether Earth’s rocky core will survive.