Posted on 12/11/2004 11:15:46 AM PST by SamAdams76
It is estimated the sun has about 4 billion more years of life left in it. Of course the sun can't just go out, but this was a hypothetical question: What if? If, by some strange quirk of fate, it went out, we would all die. End of story.
Note to self: Sell all "Coppertone" stock immediately!
We'll be burnt to a crisp and presumably become part of the Sun's inner core, although I suppose we could simply be vaporized first.
Either way, freezing to death isn't in the future cards for us.
Exactly, lol! Just what I was thinking. In order for nuclear fusion to stop at the Sun's core, someone would have to turn off gravity in the universe, or the Sun would have to collide with another star, or something equally catastrophic, in all of which cases we'd have a lot more to worry about than getting cold and starving!
The bright side is we won't have to hear from the libs about global warming anymore - then again they don't give up easily.
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Too funny by far. ;)
It's one of those unlikely "what if" things people (some with too much time on their hands) like to ponder. Like my question: What if you cored the earth from pole to pole, then jumped in the hole - what would happen?
Well, for someone who writes a 'science' blog, this guy is pretty ignorant.
The fate of our sun is well know to anyone who has taken an astronomy 101 course.
A billion or so years from now, the hydrogen fusion reaction in the sun will no longer be able to support the weight of the core.
At that point the core, which will be mostly helium at that point, will collapse until it becomes so dense that a helium fusion reaction begins.
The sun will then swell up into a large red start who's size will be so large that it will reach to about the orbit of Mars.
IOW, the Earth is going to get fried and swallowed up before the Sun finally burns out. I suggect investing in sun screen, not winter clothing.
Everyone needs to read this book:
___________________________________________
100 Billion Suns: The Birth, Life, and Death of the Stars
by Rudolf Kippenhahn "The earth revolves around the sun at a rate of 30 kilometers per second in an almost circular orbit measuring 300 million kilometers in diameter..."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Review
An admirable introduction to the difficult subject of stellar evolution accurately aimed at the general reader.
Product Description:
How are the nuclear power plants we call "stars" formed? Where do they get their energy and how do they die--and what does this suggest about the future of the universe? One of the most popular books written on astrophysics, 100 Billion Suns provides an exhilarating and authoritative life history of the stars.
Boy, I hope the Earth cracks in half before that. It sounds terrible.
NOW what am I going to do....oh that's right....eat !!!!!!
Global Warming is in our Future and it will get very HOT>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"Either way, freezing to death isn't in the future cards for us."
Especially with "global warming" turning the polar caps into tropical beaches. At least that's what the enviros tell me.
There was a science fiction short story about that. I don't remember the name, but they used it as a prison. A perpetual pendulum of swinging prisoners...
Just what I needed. Something else to worry about.
When the sun does go out (in about 5 billion more years) it will have depleted enough hydrogen for gravity to cause the star to collapse to a white dwarf. It will still continue to radiate heat at a decreased rate for tens of billions of years after that, though. There's also the part about the red giant stage but that's for another post
:^)
(Actually...if it "was" to go out doesn't bother me half as much as if it "WERE" to go out !)
Not if real estate developers have anything to say about it. There will be chunks broken off to make new planets, and they will sell parcels for a $ zillion each.
If the sun were to go out everybody would be de-lighted.
My descendants are going to be out on Europa by the time that happens. Soaking up some pleasant (albeit red) summertime rays.
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