New study suggests Earth could escape the sun's fiery demise
A new study suggests that Earth might survive the Sun's eventual transition into a red giant star five billion years from now. Researchers found that the planet's fate depends on the rate of mass loss from the dying star, which could push Earth into a wider orbit rather than causing it to be swallowed.
What happens to Earth when the Sun dies? A groundbreaking study released by Astronomy and Astrophysics reveals a fate far more mind-boggling than the fiery death we always expected. Five billion years from now, the Sun will run out of fuel and expand into a red giant — a massive, dying star. THE BEST CELESTIAL EVENTS IN 2026 YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS For decades, we believed this meant the absolute destruction of Mercury, Venus and Earth. But the new study suggests our planet might actually have a chance depending strongly on two scenarios. Depending on the strength of the sun's gravitational tidal interactions and its mass-loss rates, Earth will either be dragged inward and swallowed by the sun or allowed to drift out into wider orbit. SCIENTISTS DISCOVER NEW METHOD OF DEFENSE AGAINST SOLAR STORMS TO HELP PROTECT EARTH According to the study, \"low AGB mass-loss rates lead to engulfment, while high rates allow Earth to survive.\" AGB stands for Asymptotic Giant Branch, which is the most explosive peak of the red giant phase—essentially when the sun begins its final stages of life. When you add 'mass loss' to the equation, AGB mass loss simply means that this dying star is violently blasting its outer layers of gas and dust into deep space using powerful stellar winds. VIBRANT DISCOVERY: UNIQUE, SALTY CLOUDS FOUND ON ICONIC 'PINK PLANET' \"Since the AGB mass-loss rates remain observationally uncertain, the final fate of Earth is still unclear,\" researchers said. So how did scientists’ figure this out? They looked at a nearby dying star called L2 Pup. This star essentially mimics what our Sun will look like in 5 billion years. By observing L2 Pup with powerful telescopes, researchers were able to measure exactly how much mass the aging star is shedding right now. They plugged this real-world data to recalculate Earth's chances of survival. HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER While this discovery might offer a glimmer of hope, the unfortunate reality is that both scenarios still seal the ultimate demise of humanity.
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