Astronomers Say Dying Sun Will Engulf Earth

iamlucky13 writes "A minor academic debate among astronomers is the final fate of the earth. As the sun ages and enters the red giant stage of its life, it will heat up, making the earth inhospitable. It will also expand, driven by helium fusion so that its outer layers reach past the earth's current orbit. Previously it had been believed that the sun would lose enough mass to allow earth to escape to a more distant orbit, lifeless but intact. However, new calculations, which take into account tidal forces and drag from mass shed by the sun, suggest that the earth will have sufficiently slowed in that time to be dragged down to its utter destruction in 7.6 billion years. "

Comments

Oh my fsm

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This is the most informed and educated post I have seen on slashdot for some time.

Mod parent up! Long before solar expansion is an issue the earth will have been struck by extinction level asteroids multiple times.

This is a test: Escape your planet of origin or die out. End test.