What will happen if there is no sunlight. What happens if the sun goes out. How long will the sun last?

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For millions of years, each new day on Earth begins with the sun rising in the east and ending with its sunset in the west. Historical eras replace each other, some empires collapse and others are born, wars are declared and truces are concluded, and the Sun still moves measuredly across the sky.

But does anyone ever wonder what will happen if one day the Sun suddenly ceases to exist? Against the background of this event, everything that human civilization is doing today will turn out to be nothing more than a mouse fuss on a sinking ship. But this could happen one day!

IS JUDGMENT DAY AROUND?

From astronomy textbooks we know that a star like the Sun lives about 10 billion years. Of these, about 4.57 billion years have already passed to date; accordingly, it is not difficult to calculate that for approximately another 5.5 billion years, humanity can go about its business on Earth, without worrying that someone will suddenly turn off the “eternal light bulb” above his head.

This is how things officially stand, but a number of quite serious physicists thinks otherwise. One of the scientists, Dutch astrophysicist Piers van der Meer, an expert with the European Space Agency, unexpectedly announced several years ago that on July 1, 2005, a large plasma ejection occurred on the Sun. Its size was terrifying. Astronomers calculated that the diameter of the prominence was more than thirty diameters of the Earth, and its length exceeded a record 350 thousand kilometers.

Fortunately for the inhabitants of the planet, the ejection of matter occurred in the direction opposite to the Earth. However, scientists, and in particular Van der Meer, were in no hurry to rejoice. According to an astrophysicist who has been studying the behavior of the Sun for many years, our star will soon explode. Moreover, the scientist called the terms not on a cosmic scale at all; the Dutchman allocated only about six years for the life of the luminary and, accordingly, for humanity. It turned out that the end of the world in every sense should have come in 2011-2012.

The astrophysicist's prophecy quickly spread throughout the world media, causing a certain panic among the impressionable inhabitants of the planet, fueled by the Mayan prophecy, who also mentioned the death the next Sun. In his conclusions, Van der Meer relied on data on strange change internal temperature of the Sun. For many years, the temperature of the star was constant and amounted to about 15 million degrees Celsius.

But between 1994 and 2005, the temperature of the Sun suddenly skyrocketed to 27 million degrees. Almost double! Based on these data, the scientist concluded that, heating up at such a rapid pace, the Sun will quickly turn into a supernova.

According to Van der Meer, the end of civilization will be colorful, but short-lived. First, there will be a blinding flash, followed by streams of X-ray, ultraviolet and gamma radiation that will destroy all life on our planet. The Earth will heat up to several thousand degrees, and the oceans will simply evaporate. However, 2011 passed, humanity happily survived December 2012, 2013 passed, 2014 started, and the cataclysm never happened.

IT'S ONLY BEGINING

However, one should not rejoice ahead of time, since in predictions and such global calculations an error of one or two years is a rather ordinary phenomenon. Today, humanity needs to understand whether the Sun is really planning to explode and, if so, approximately when this might happen.

It turned out that scientists have actually been thinking in recent years about changing the official point of view regarding the model of stellar evolution solar type. Thus, Simon Campbell, a scientist from Monash University, published a paper in which he argues that stars similar to the Sun, as a rule, skip the stage of old age and die immediately!

The scientist made a similar conclusion based on a study of the globular cluster NGC 6752, which through its history made it clear that theories about the evolution of solar-type stars are erroneous. For a long time it was believed that scientists knew almost everything about the evolution of stars and their aging periods. It was assumed that the Sun, according to this theory, in about 5 billion years will lose its atmosphere and turn into a red giant - a star that has burned out all its fuel. And this red giant will first swell to the orbit of the Earth, and then shrink to the size of a white dwarf, and then again become an ordinary star.

Now, after examining the globular cluster NGC 6752 using the VLT telescope, it turns out that stars like the Sun really do not live to a very old age, and their lifespan directly depends on the amount of sodium content. It so happens that in the globular cluster NGC 6752 there are two generations of stars at once. This interesting fact allowed astrophysicists to compare the amount of sodium in “old” and “new” stars using an example of more than 130 stars. The findings were the most astonishing: they actually confirmed that a star can explode in its “prime of life”!

WHAT IS WAITING FOR US?

What frightens scientists most is that the Sun behaves unpredictably. The giant ejection of material in 2005 was not preceded by any of the signs that usually signal similar cataclysms. Most often, such “tricks” are indicated by the famous sunspots - dark areas on the surface of the star, indicating a change or fluctuation magnetic field Sun. Even now strong magnetic storms exposure to the sun sometimes not only affects the health of weather-dependent people, but also destroys power lines.

What can we say about the emission of solar matter! And if you also imagine that once again this prominence will be directed towards the Earth... Just think: it will reach the surface of our planet in 8 minutes! This is approximately the same as the time it took for ballistic missiles to approach the borders of the United States or the USSR during the confrontation in cold war. Only this time, if the prominence pierces the Earth’s atmosphere, no bunker will help.

However, domestic astrophysicists believe that one should not look at things so pessimistically. In their opinion, Van der Meer and fans of his and similar theories are mistaken. After all, the intensity, not the strength, of solar radiation has been constant for many years, including recent years. This would be impossible if the temperature of the Sun increased as the Dutchman says. Consequently, he is either mistaken, or deliberately, wanting to become famous, creates an exaggerated sensation.

A number of other scientists argue that such temperature increases are possible, but these are so-called cycles solar activity, lasting 11, 22, 100 or 400 years, when after a period of increasing temperature there is a period of decreasing temperature. Moreover, the fatal outbreak that occurred, which alarmed the entire planet, occurred in 2005, just in Last year 11-year activity cycle! At the same time, physicists from all over the world, without saying a word, assure that even if the Dutchman is right, then at least several tens, or even hundreds of thousands of years must pass before the explosion of the Sun.

However, if humanity wants to live forever, it needs to take care of building huge starships on which human civilization could move, so as not to depend on the whims of its star.

Dmitry TUMANOV

The sun is about 333,000 times the mass of our planet and produces the same amount of energy as 100 billion hydrogen bombs every second. The giant mass makes this star the dominant gravitational force in the entire solar system, firmly fixing all eight planets in their orbits. At the same time, the energy of the sun heats the Earth to the extent necessary for the catalyst of life - water - to appear.

But what will happen if the sun suddenly disappears? Many people cannot even imagine such a situation. Nevertheless, the problem posed is not as stupid as it seems at first glance. At least Albert Einstein himself did not neglect this thought experiment - but we, based on his calculations, will try to tell you what will actually happen to the Earth if a star suddenly goes out.

Gravity

Before Einstein asked the question, scientists believed that gravity changes instantly. If this were indeed the case, then the disappearance of the sun would instantly send all eight planets on an endless journey through the dark depths of the galaxy. But Einstein proved that the speed of light and the speed of gravity propagate simultaneously - which means we'll still have eight whole minutes of enjoyment ordinary life, before we realize the disappearance of the Sun.

Eternal night

The sun may simply go out. In this case, humanity will not remain in complete darkness, on a planet filled with desperate madmen. The stars will still shine, the factories will still work, and people, quite possibly, will not start setting fire to the fires of the Inquisition for another ten years. But photosynthesis will stop.

Most plants will die within a few days - but this is not what should worry us most. average temperature The earth will fall to -17 degrees Celsius in a week. By the end of the first year, our planet will begin to experience a new ice age.

Remains of life

Of course, most of life on Earth will cease to exist. In less than a month, almost all plants will die. Large trees will be able to survive for several more years, since they have large reserves of nutritious sucrose. But nothing will threaten some microorganisms - so, formally, life on Earth will continue.

Human survival

But what will happen to our species? Astronomy professor Eric Blackman is confident that we will be able to survive without the Sun. This will happen thanks to volcanic heat, which can be used for heating homes and for industrial purposes. The best place to live would be in Iceland: people here are already heating their homes using geothermal energy.

Endless journey

But the worst thing is that the absence of the Sun will rip our planet off its leash and send it on a long, long journey. The planet will rush in search of adventure - and, most likely, will find it with ease. Unfortunately, this will not end well for us: the slightest collision with another object will cause huge destruction. But there is a more positive scenario: if the planet is carried towards the Milky Way, then the Earth may well find a new star and enter a new orbit. In such an incredibly unlikely event, the people who have arrived will become the first astronauts to cover such a significant distance.

Everyone understands that without the sun life on Earth is impossible. Although it’s not only about him, but also about the optimal location of our planet from the Sun. And yet this does not diminish the importance celestial body, providing us with vital warmth. What is the sun? Why is it “hot”?

What is the sun?

It is impossible to study the Sun directly. You can't send it to the sun spacecraft for study, for taking samples in order to examine them later. Therefore, our knowledge about the sun is based on theoretical calculations. Although it is said about the Sun that it “burns,” this is simply a transfer to in simple language Togo complex process which occurs in the Sun. Due to the vacuum in space, combustion in the usual sense of the word is impossible.

Observations helped to determine the mass, composition, radius and temperature of the Sun. Thanks to additional data, it became known that over billions of years the luminosity of the Sun has remained virtually unchanged. It was concluded that thermonuclear reactions take place in the sun. The temperature inside the sun reaches 20 million degrees. At this temperature, the hydrogen that makes up the Sun is converted into helium: four hydrogen atoms fuse into one helium atom. This process is the reason for the release of such a large amount of energy, a tiny fraction of which the planet Earth receives to support life on it. The photo below shows the thermonuclear process in the Sun.

Is our Sun a star or a planet?

In the ancient Russian chronicle, the Sun is a planet (due to objective reasons, it is clear why they thought so). Here are the signs of a planet as a celestial body:

• - the planet has a certain density;
• - the planet rotates and around own axis and around the star;
• - the planet is massive enough to have a round shape due to its gravity, but not massive enough to launch thermonuclear reaction, like the Sun;
• - V chemical composition planets like Earth have iron, aluminum, silicon, titanium, magnesium and other similar compounds in large quantities. Gases are in the minority.

Although the Sun rotates around its axis, which is difficult to track, it

• - does not revolve around another star like a planet;
• - the composition of stars is dominated by hydrogen and helium gases. In the Sun, just over 73% is hydrogen, almost 25% is helium, the remaining 2% is other gases and some metals.

It is clear from everything that the Sun is a star.

How long will the Sun last?

Since everything in the Universe dies and is born again, the logical question is when will the Sun go out, if it goes out, of course? Or, conversely, can it explode?

At one time they said that the Sun's fuel reserves would last for another 5-6 billion years, and then it would begin to turn into a giant red star. Because of this, millions of hot gas will evaporate into the solar system and move the Earth away from the Sun. This, it seems, should not lead to disaster. But other calculations give only 1 billion years. Time will tell who is right and who is wrong, but humanity is unlikely to record the truth.

What happens if the Sun goes out? During the first week, temperatures will drop below 17 degrees Celsius. In a year, the temperature on earth will be minus 40. Photosynthesis will stop. There will be no basis for the survival of humanity. Within a million years, the temperature will stabilize at minus 160 degrees. Some microorganisms will be able to survive, but humans will not.

Regarding the explosion of the Sun, this can happen only after 6 thousand years. Over the past 11 years, the temperature of the solar core has doubled. If the trend continues, the Sun will explode before its possible extinction.

Should we worry that the Sun will one day go out or explode? Not worth it. Firstly, we won’t live to see this, and secondly, everything is born someday and goes through its life path and then dies or dies.

Humans have a life cycle of one person within a hundred years, while stars have a cycle that takes billions of years.

What stage of its life cycle is the Sun in? The photo below shows what the life cycle of a star is like in general.

Since our Sun is a star, it must also go through this cycle. Our Sun is now in the stage yellow dwarf. The further stage is either a nebula or a red giant, and then a supernova and beyond. What exactly will be the scenario for our Sun, only time will tell. And that’s not for us...

At the moment, we can only study the Universe, admiring its greatness.

Everyone understands that life on planet Earth cannot be imagined without the main source of light shining in the sky - the Sun. It is thanks to him that the planets rotate on their axis. It was thanks to the Sun that life appeared on Earth.

Since ancient times, people have been thinking about the question: what will happen if the Sun goes out? Scientists put forward their versions, film directors repeatedly make films on this topic. What will happen to humanity, and indeed to all living things on Earth?

Why can the Sun go out?

The power of radiation that falls from the Sun to Earth is equal to 170 trillion kW. In addition, another 2 billion times more energy is dissipated into space. The theory of relativity says: energy consumption affects mass loss.

Every minute the Sun loses 240 million tons of weight. Scientists have calculated that the lifespan of the Sun is 10 billion years.

So how much time is left? Scientists suggest that it is exactly half of the allotted period, that is, 5 billion years.

What then? And if the Sun goes out, what will happen to the Earth? There are many opinions and disputes regarding this global issue. Below are just a few of them.

Eternal darkness

If you turn off the light source in a completely isolated room, complete darkness will ensue. What will happen if the Sun goes out? The same.

At first glance, this is not entirely dangerous for humanity. After all, people have invented other light sources. But how long will they last? But stopping the flow of sunlight will have a detrimental effect on plants. And literally in a week they will all die. As a result, photosynthesis and the process of oxygen production on Earth will stop.

Loss of gravity

The sun is a kind of magnet. Thanks to its attraction, the eight planets of the solar system do not move chaotically, but strictly along axes around the center. What happens if the Sun suddenly goes out? All of them, having lost the force of gravity, will begin to randomly travel across the vast expanses of the galaxy.

For the Earth, this could most likely lead to tragic consequences. After all, a collision with even a small space object, not to mention another planet, can simply tear it apart. Does this mean that if the Sun goes out, the Earth will die? But among scientists there are also optimists who claim that the earth can survive. But this option is possible if she falls into Milky Way, where he will find a new star and, accordingly, a new orbit.

Termination of life

As already noted, life cannot be imagined without sunlight and warmth. So what happens if the Sun goes out? Plants will be the first to suffer. They will disappear literally within the first week. Only large trees, thanks to sucrose reserves, will be able to survive for some time. Then, having lost their source of food, first the herbivores will die, and then the predators. In addition, the disappearance of plants will stop the production of oxygen, which will further accelerate the extinction of living organisms on Earth. The inhabitants of the deep ocean have an advantage. Firstly, they do not need light, because they are accustomed to constant darkness. Secondly, they are less dependent on oxygen, since they do not need to swim to the surface, as most fish species do.

But life on earth will not die completely. History knows of cases of survival of some species (for example, cockroaches) even after the most global changes. Some microorganisms will continue to exist for many hundreds or even thousands of years. Perhaps in the future they will become the beginning of a new life on earth.

A foggy future for humans

It has been proven more than once that people adapt to different conditions. What will happen if the Sun goes out? Having evolved, humanity has learned to create other light sources. For a while they will be quite enough.

In addition, you can use the energy of the earth, including volcanoes. Icelandic residents are already using it to heat their homes. Yes, even without sources of food a person can survive. Firstly, because of its endurance. Secondly, thanks to the fact that he learned to create food himself.

As we know from history, the Earth has already experienced ice ages. But they cannot be compared with the one that will come after the Sun goes out. According to scientists, in just a week the temperature in all corners of the globe will drop to minus 17 degrees Celsius. In a year it will drop to minus 40. Initially, the land will be covered with ice, especially those areas that are located far from water.

Then the ice cap will cover all seas and oceans. However, ice will, in a sense, act as insulation for water at depth, so the seas and oceans will completely turn into ice only after hundreds of thousands of years.

Is it really that sad, is humanity doomed?

It is quite difficult to give a positive or negative answer to this question. What is certain is that life will change dramatically. If the Earth is lucky enough not to collide with a cosmic body and remains safe and sound, this does not mean that its inhabitants will survive. Plants and animals will eventually cease to exist. What about people? They will have to adapt to new conditions: complete darkness, lack of natural food, constant cold. You can still get used to this. But due to the lack of oxygen in the air, the future of humanity is at risk. The only thing that can save us is the creation of alternative sources.

So what happens if the Sun goes out? All solar system drastic changes await. There is only one good thing: they will most likely come only in 5 billion years.