The question of how it will happen end of the world has been one of the most debated topics for centuries, and comes back into vogue every time an unusual astronomical event catalyzes the attention of the population across the globe, but the increasingly precise models on which the studies are based allow scientists to reconstruct scenarios more and more likely.
The last spectacular event in chronological order that sparked the debate was obviously thetotal solar eclipse which was seen in Canada, Mexico and the United States, however, apparently, there were no repercussions of any kind as assumed by many. For scientists, however, the topic is particularly serious and provides interesting food for thought.
The end of the world is what the experts at the University of Warwick in England recently dealt with, starting from a basic consideration: our Sun sooner or later it will “turn off”, running out of energy, and this cannot fail to have consequences on the entire solar system, Earth first and foremost. What fate will the human beings living on our planet have?
That fateful moment should occur approximately in 5 billion years: in its final phase of life the Sun, a yellow dwarf, will begin to increase its volume becoming a red giant, a star of enormous size but relatively low mass. The next step, according to experts, will be the gradual loss of its mass and, once the outer shell is eliminated, a white dwarf star surrounded by gas should remain.
But what will happen to the Earth and the other planets of the solar system? Will they be able to “witness the last phase of the star's life? Probably not everyone, according to scholars from the University of Warwick. In its expansion phase, the Sun will certainly swallow up Mercury and Venus, given the “small” distance. The same will happen to our Planet? What is certain is that it will be uninhabitable, losing its atmosphere and oceans, but it is not excluded that it too will be swallowed up by the expanding Sun before the “white dwarf” phase. “For the rest of the Solar System, some of the asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter, and perhaps some of Jupiter's moons, could become dislocated and travel close enough to the eventual white dwarf to undergo a shredding process that we have studied.”explains Professor Boris Gaensicke.
Scientists analyzed the behavior of 3 for 17 years white dwarfs to obtain valuable information. The “ZTF J0328−1219”, apparently quite stable, revealed traces of a serious catastrophic event that occurred about 15 years ago. “ZTF J0923+4236” dimmed irregularly about every two months, showing huge variability before “brightening again.” Finally, “WD 1145+017” showed great irregularities in the number and shape of transits, documenting the unpredictability of the behavior of these celestial bodies.
What about the rest of the solar system? Given that Mercury, Venus and (perhaps) the Earth will be swallowed up by the Sun, a continuation of their “life” is instead possible for Mars and the four gaseous planets, i.e. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune: they could therefore continue to orbit around the star in what will be its last evolution.