Stories
Sun's Death: Solar System Chaos Inevitable, Only Mars Survives, Scientists Reveal Timeline
- •New Caltech research indicates the solar system will end much sooner than expected, with even outer planets facing destruction.
- •A billion years after the Sun dies, outer planets will be ejected from their orbits, a timeframe a billion times shorter than previous estimates.
- •When the Sun becomes a red giant, Earth, Venus, and Mercury will be engulfed and destroyed; only Mars will survive due to its distance.
- •The new study disproves the theory that the Sun will gradually lose mass and then transform into a red giant and white dwarf.
- •Mass ejection from the star will be a violent, random process, causing stochastic kicks that destabilize the outer planets' orbits.
Key Questions Answered
According to scientists, only Mars will survive the destruction of the solar system when the Sun becomes a red giant and expands. Mars is located far enough away to escape the Sun's reach, whereas Earth, Venus, and Mercury will be completely engulfed and destroyed.
New research by Caltech scientists reveals that a billion years after the Sun dies, the outer planets will be ejected from their orbits. This timeframe is a billion times shorter than previous estimates, which had suggested the giant planets' orbits would remain stable for a quintillion years.
While great scientists like Isaac Newton believed that the Sun's mass loss would be a very smooth and calm process, new data has proven it will be a violent event. The recent study views the mass loss as sudden explosions, which will permanently destabilize the orbits of the planets.
