• Question: how long will it be until the sun goes super-nova?

    Asked by Chloe and Milla to Maggie on 7 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Maggie Lieu

      Maggie Lieu answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      The sun doesn’t have enough mass to go supernova. It will burn up all its hydrogen and then it will turn into a red giant, this is when the core will contract and the outer shell will expand and swallow up all the planets. Eventually the core will collapse into a white dwarf and the outer shell will dissipate outwards into a cloud of gas and dust creating a beautiful planetary nebula just like this one:

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