We might not perish in a solar meltdown after all.
Contrary to popular belief, the Earth might actually weather the fiery death of the sun that’s expected to engulf our neighbors, per a relieving study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
“Observations of Sun-like giant stars currently point towards Earth’s survival,” head author Mats Esseldeurs, a researcher at the Institute of Astronomy of KU Leuven in Belgium, said in a statement.
He and other international researchers were studying the effects of our solar system’s star’s demise, which is projected to occur 5 billion years from now when it will run out of hydrogen to fuse its core and subsequently expand to hundreds of time its size.
Specifically, the solar system’s light source will transform into a red giant star, then an even bigger “AGB Star,” before finally perishing as a white dwarf — the ember-like core that’s left behind after a star dies.
These interstellar death throes will result in a thermonuclear inferno that’s projected to consume Mercury, Venus, and the Earth.
However, after studying stellar evolution models and a nearby dying star named L2 Puppis — which offers a potential snapshot of the sun’s future — the team concluded that our planet might not go out in a blaze of glory.
When the sun balloons up, the ensuing gravitational tidal forces will suck Earth in, according to the more apocalyptic projection.
The alternate scenario, per the models, is that the stellar wind could causes our star to rapidly shed mass, whereupon its hold on us will weaken and allow Earth to flee into the galaxy before getting swallowed.
The outcome hinges on how fast the sun loses mass.
“The fate of Earth depends on a delicate balance between these two effects,” said Esseldeurs. “If tidal interactions dominate, Earth is engulfed. If mass loss dominates, Earth escapes to a wider orbit.”
As the rate of mass loss for aging stars remains unclear, the team needs “better observations” before they can be certain of what will happen to Earth post-sunburst, he said.
The bad news is that, in either case, the human race is not making it out alive.
The sun, which is currently halfway through its life, will continue to fuse hydrogen into helium, becoming hotter and more inhospitable to life long before it meets its maker, Gizmodo reported.
So while our home planet might technically survive armageddon, the same won’t be true for its inhabitants.