What will the Earth and solar system look like in approximately five billion years? Considering all the time it will take to get to that moment, it may not be a question you ask yourself often. However, many astronomers do ask it. And, it seems, there are new conclusions in this regard.
It must be taken into account that it will be on that date when, at least in theory, the Sun dies. What will happen then both with the Earth and with the rest of the planets and satellites that orbit around it? That they will not do too well, is evident, but perhaps not everything will happen as thought until now.
The end of the Sun (and the Earth)
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As published on the portal Royal Astronomical Society, there are not too many things clear about what the end of the solar system will be like. What does seem inevitable is that The Sun, which is now burning hydrogen in its core, will eventually burn out, expand and become a red giant, before ending up as a white dwarf.
A process that, according to the research shared by the British media, may be even more complex than initially thought. It is the conclusion they have reached after observing what happened with other white dwarf stars. To begin with, they have not decided what specifically will happen to Earth. Will it be engulfed by the Sun like other planets?
“It's unclear whether or not the Earth will be able to move fast enough before the sun can catch up with it and burn it up.” (which will happen with Mercury and with Venus), but it would still lose its atmosphere and its oceans, so it would surely no longer be a suitable place for life,” explained Professor Boris Gaensicke, from the University of Warwick.
Those planets, moons and asteroids that are not engulfed by the sun will continue to be there, but what happens to them when they have to orbit a white dwarf? Well, as scientists have observed, They would stop having a regular and calm movement to follow violent, chaotic and extremely disordered transits. Many would fall into pieces.
Orbit in chaos
Therefore, everything in the solar system that is not destroyed when the Sun enters expansion will undergo a process that is to a certain extent unpredictable, but which will still end in destruction. This is how Professor Gaensicke explains it:
“The sad news is that the Earth will probably be devoured by an expanding sun, before it becomes a white dwarf.”. For the rest of the solar system, some of the asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter, and perhaps some of Jupiter's moons may be dislodged and travel so close to the eventual white dwarf as to undergo the destruction process.”
Of course, at the terrestrial level, five billion years is a long time, so, if the experts' calculations are true, humanity may no longer exist by then. Or if you do, you may have had to move planets.
