14. How will the Sun's life end? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

The Sun does not have enough mass to end its life in a catastrophic explosion like a supernova blast. It will expand into a Red Giant phase as a normal part of its evolutionary process in about three to five billion years. This expansion will eventually engulf all the inner planets and may even swell to the orbit of Earth, making life impossible. Hopefully, humankind will have already left the planet to explore other areas of our own solar system or perhaps worlds beyond. Once this phase runs out of fuel, the Sun will then suffer a catastrophic collapse at the speed of light leaving its tenuous outer atmosphere intact as a beautiful planetary nebula. The core will become the leftover remnant of the Sun and will only be the size of the former planet Earth. It will then shine as a white dwarf for many billions of years as it slowly cools off and eventually fades from existence.

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Answer provided by Jim Zebrowski

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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