• Question: Do you think the world will end? If so, approximately when? (No superstition)

    Asked by anawesomepersonlol to Claire, Kate, Matt, Rob, Sam on 18 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Kate Husband

      Kate Husband answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Yes! In about 4.5 billion years the Sun will expand into a red giant star and it will be way too hot on Earth for any life to exist. A few million years after that the Sun will explode and ‘die’, which may or may not destroy Earth. So I think we have quite a while to go yet.

    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Pretty much what Kate said! Although it won’t really explode like a supernova – the outer bits will be blown out, but it’s not a supernova explosion. You then get pretty planetary nebulae like this one:

    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      So we have about 4.5 billion years to find another sun, with another Earth-like planet, if we’re particularly fond of keeping our feet on the ground.

      Of course… that’s if we don’t get hit by a massive asteroid first!

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