• Question: Will the sun ever lose its glow eternally?

    Asked by Katnisseverdeen to Ross, Robert, Gemma, Aimee on 7 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by 672tund47, 278tund47.
    • Photo: Ross King

      Ross King answered on 7 Nov 2015:

      Yes, the Sun will eventually burn out, but we still have a long time before that will happen.

      So far, the Sun has probably used about half of all of its energy since it first came to be, around 4.6 billion (4.6 thousand million!) years ago. So if things keep going the way they are, the Sun has probably got about another 5 billion years or so left, which is pretty good going.

      But as the Sun gets older it will begin to change and it will get much, much bigger and brighter. This might mean that it will be very difficult for life to survive on Earth and there might come a point where the Sun eventually swallows the Earth entirely!

      I don’t think we have anything to worry about though 😉

    • Photo: Aimee Goodall

      Aimee Goodall answered on 14 Nov 2015:

      Great answer Ross, when I was younger I used to worry that the sun would burn out when I was alive, but there is no chance that would happen! I wish I had scientists then to answer my questions!

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