As the sun sheds its outer layers, its mass will decrease, loosening its gravitational hold on all of the planets. So all of the planets orbiting the sun will drift a little farther away.
When the sun becomes a full-blown red giant, Scudder said, its core will get extremely hot and dense while its outer layer expands ... a lot.
0
1.
ZombieDarwin 7 year s ago
"This is how Earth is going to Parish", eh? Well, there will be a lot of praying involved.
"And it doesn't end there. A 10% increase in brightness every billion years means that 3.5 billion years from today, the sun will shine almost 40% brighter, which will boil Earth's oceans, melt its ice caps, and strip all of the moisture from its atmosphere."
[panicked voice from the back of the room]: How long did you say?
3.5 billion years
[same voice, noticeably calmer]: Oh, I thought you said 3.5 * million * years!
"And it doesn't end there. A 10% increase in brightness every billion years means that 3.5 billion years from today, the sun will shine almost 40% brighter, which will boil Earth's oceans, melt its ice caps, and strip all of the moisture from its atmosphere."
[panicked voice from the back of the room]: How long did you say?
3.5 billion years
[same voice, noticeably calmer]: Oh, I thought you said 3.5 * million * years!
"And it doesn't end there. A 10% increase in brightness every billion years means that 3.5 billion years from today, the sun will shine almost 40% brighter, which will boil Earth's oceans, melt its ice caps, and strip all of the moisture from its atmosphere."
[panicked voice from the back of the room]: How long did you say?
3.5 billion years
[same voice, noticeably calmer]: Oh, I thought you said 3.5 * million * years!