Wonders of the Universe

THE DEATH OF THE SUN

Although relatively young now, the Sun, like every other star in the Universe, must one day die. In around five billion years’ time, the Sun’s stores of hydrogen will run dry and the star will begin its long, dramatic swansong. During this lengthy goodbye, the last dying bursts of extra heat will extend towards us, passing Mercury and Venus on the way and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Long after life has disappeared on Earth, the Sun will continue to fill the horizon as it swells in the Red Giant phase until, in about six billion years’ time, our Sun will shed its outer layers of gas and dust into space, exposing its core which will fade into a white dwarf, living on in the heavens as a shadow of its former self.

Nathalie Lees © HarperCollins