The Sun is “currently in its comfortable middle age”, new data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) GAIA spacecraft has said. The current age of the Sun is estimated to be 4.57 billion years, data showed. Here’s everything you need to know about when and how the Sun is estimated to die.
Is the Sun really dying?
As per a recently published study by the European Space Agency (ESA), the sun is likely going through the middle-age. The study is based on observations from ESA’s Gaia spacecraft. Its telescope revealed new information that is monumental in determining when the sun will die. The star formed 4.57 billion years ago is in its ”comfortable middle age, fusing hydrogen into helium and generally being rather stable; staid even”.
The study also estimates the star’s evolutional process will keep going on for several billion years before running out of fuel. Following the event, it will turn into a red giant star. Additionally, it revealed both the past and future of how it will behave in various life stages. (https://musclemx.com/) “As the hydrogen fuel runs out in its core, and changes begin in the fusion process, we expect it to swell into a red giant star, lowering its surface temperature in the process,” said the study.
How and when will the Sun die?
The occurrence of the event depends on the mass of the star and its chemical makeup. Orlagh Creevey, an astronomer from France’s Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur deduced this along with other collaborators from the ESA. After combing through the data, they looked at the most accurate stellar readings. “We wanted to have a pure sample of stars with high precision measurements,” stated Orlagh.
“It will become a red giant star around at 10–11 billion years of age. The Sun will reach the end of its life after this phase. When it eventually becomes a dim white dwarf,” he explained. A white dwarf is the fate of a star after exhausting all its hydrogen. “If we don’t understand our own Sun – and there are many things we don’t know about it – how can we expect to understand all of the other stars that make up our wonderful galaxy,” he added.