It won’t explode as if by supernova because it’s below the Chandrasekar limit of ~1.4 times the sun’s mass needed for that to occur.
It will, however, enter its supergiant phase, and will expand its diameter to engulf the three inner planets. Many hundreds of billions or even hundreds of trillions of years later it will collapse into its stellar dwarf phase.
E: Sun, not earth. There’s a bit of difference, I guess.
From what I can find with some quick searching, the red giant phase should only last about a billion years. The white dwarf stage should last much longer (tens or hundreds of billion years) as the sun slowly cools.
You’re absolutely right that there won’t be a supernova, though. The sun will shed much of its mass in the form of a planetary nebula, but it won’t explode or implode.
It won’t explode as if by supernova because it’s below the Chandrasekar limit of ~1.4 times the sun’s mass needed for that to occur.
It will, however, enter its supergiant phase, and will expand its diameter to engulf the three inner planets. Many hundreds of billions or even hundreds of trillions of years later it will collapse into its stellar dwarf phase.
E: Sun, not earth. There’s a bit of difference, I guess.
I’m pretty sure the Sun’s mass is way above 1.4 times the Earth’s mass, thought.
It’s supposed to be 1.4 times the mass of the sun
Yeah, you’re both correct, botched that one.
But if it had 1.4 times the mass of the sun, we’d have way bigger problems than a measly supernova
From what I can find with some quick searching, the red giant phase should only last about a billion years. The white dwarf stage should last much longer (tens or hundreds of billion years) as the sun slowly cools.
You’re absolutely right that there won’t be a supernova, though. The sun will shed much of its mass in the form of a planetary nebula, but it won’t explode or implode.