Our sun does not have the mass to explode. When the red giant runs out of fuel, the star will begin to shrink, shedding layers of plasma that become planetary nebulea.
A white dwarf will remain, a dense little star, about the size of earth, held together by electrons. As a red giant, it destroyed all its planets. Now it is alone, shrinking and growing colder and dimmer in an empty ballroom of the universe.
In time, it will become a black dwarf, a mean dot of hyper-compressed molecules, a few degrees above absolute zero.
Then comes the day when there is nothing more to give. No light, no heat, nothing to fuse, nothing to do. It can't even reflect another star's light. A cold black rock that, long ago, commanded a system, powered civilizations and countless celestial events and was worshipped as a god -- because the description fit -- by billions of little beings who enjoyed the feel of sunlight on the their skin.
The final imperceptible unit of heat escapes, and the sun is dead.
I find it interesting that restructuring city government is a close second to schools in the voting.
The restructuring of city government is something that the City Council can play a role in. If those who voted for the schools to be the number one issue for the Council to tackle could give some specifics in the Comments section, it would be most helpful going forward.
Paul's response got me thinking of red giant effects on planets, which led me to this link at Cornell about what happens to Earth in about 5 billion years.
Morbidity aside, what steps should we take to live elsewhere in the galaxy and preserve the human race?
5 comments:
Our sun does not have the mass to explode. When the red giant runs out of fuel, the star will begin to shrink, shedding layers of plasma that become planetary nebulea.
A white dwarf will remain, a dense little star, about the size of earth, held together by electrons. As a red giant, it destroyed all its planets. Now it is alone, shrinking and growing colder and dimmer in an empty ballroom of the universe.
In time, it will become a black dwarf, a mean dot of hyper-compressed molecules, a few degrees above absolute zero.
Then comes the day when there is nothing more to give. No light, no heat, nothing to fuse, nothing to do. It can't even reflect another star's light. A cold black rock that, long ago, commanded a system, powered civilizations and countless celestial events and was worshipped as a god -- because the description fit -- by billions of little beings who enjoyed the feel of sunlight on the their skin.
The final imperceptible unit of heat escapes, and the sun is dead.
How could Bush allow this to happen?!
I find it interesting that restructuring city government is a close second to schools in the voting.
The restructuring of city government is something that the City Council can play a role in. If those who voted for the schools to be the number one issue for the Council to tackle could give some specifics in the Comments section, it would be most helpful going forward.
Paul's response got me thinking of red giant effects on planets, which led me to this link at Cornell about what happens to Earth in about 5 billion years.
Morbidity aside, what steps should we take to live elsewhere in the galaxy and preserve the human race?
Ari's question begs another question: Is the human race export-worthy?
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