WHEN OUR Sun begins to die in 500 million years, and intelligent earthlings still exist...?

Question

... what will be their options for survival? What advanced technologies will be available then...

Answer 1

G'day Logan,

Thanks for your question.

The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and is about halfway through its main-sequence evolution, during which nuclear fusion reactions in its core fuse hydrogen into helium. In about 5 billion years, the Sun will evolve into a red giant and then a white dwarf, creating a planetary nebula in the process. When it expands to a red giant, it will expand to a size where it takes in the inner planets including the earth

The good news is that the core of the Sun contains about 240 million trillion trillion grams of hydrogen gas as available fuel. This will keep the sun going for a few billion years.

We probably won't exist as a species by then. We would have limited options as many other stars will be running out of fuel and the planets may not be suited to us. It is difficult to predict what technologies will be available to us given that the timeframe is so distant.

Prior to that, there is a potential crisis as the Andromeda Belt collides with the Milky Way. Impact is predicted in about 3 billion years, and so Andromeda will approach at an average speed of about 140 kilometres (87 miles) per second; the two galaxies will probably merge to form a giant elliptical. This merging will most likely eject the solar system in a more eccentric orbit and an unwanted position in the merged galaxy causing our planet to become uninhabitable (an actual collision is unnecessary).

I have attached some sources for future reference.

Regards

Answer 2

...Will we even have technology advanced enough to do anything about it? In the 30s and 40s, they thought we'd have flying cars by now. We haven't even switched to a definite alternative source of energy for cars. Will we even exist in 500 million years? Could this planet make it that far with how quickly we're going through it's resources and trashing it's surface and atmosphere? At the current rate, we only have about 42 more years before we run out of oil, and we depend on oil. And you just know that rate is going to go up, so really it's more about 20 years?

There are a lot of things that determine what will happen in 500 million years. You could guess, but with factors like the above, no matter what you say, you'll probably be way off.

Ideally, it'd be nice if we could reach the stars, and move away from this dying system, and make a new home somewhere else in universe. For it to be just as normal as moving from one country to another.

Answer 3

I don't think we need worry about it. The intelligent 'earthlings' wouldn't be human anyway besides how many other civilisations might have evolved during that time to reach a certain level only to be surpassed by another even more violent species and so on. By the time you envisage there won't be any sort of life here which is a pity really because just when earth is liable for extermination will probably be the most peaceful of times to live here.

Answer 4

By that time the moon has moved so far away from the earth that it no longer stabilizes the earth's tilt since it is moving away from the planet to the tune of about 2 inches per year. The earth will be spinning irregularly along it's orbit. There will be no predictable seasons like there are now and most all of the vegetation on the earth will die. No plants means no animals.

Answer 5

If the technology exists, then we can load up some kind of spacecraft with all the things we need to survive and maybe bring as much life with us as we can. Some Noah's Ark kind of thing? Who knows what the future may bring?

Answer 6

There is no such thing as an intelligent earthling.

When the sun dies the Earth will be vaporized long before the sun cools off. Ever heard of the red giant?

Answer 7

Hopefully a better means of space travel will exist and the ability to cultivete aptmospheres on other planets.

Answer 8

IOf the Earth survives that long with the Human race, they will have probablhy moved on to other planets by then, I m,ean thet is a long time.

Answer 9

Well if the religious types don't have their way and cause us to revert back to the dark ages. I would think that we could build a self contained planet that moves through space looking for more planets to inhabit.

Answer 10

I have wondered as well. I am sure we will have evolved but the question is, what will we have evolved into? If we continue to advance I am pretty sure we will have plenty of opportunities to colonize other worlds...but what if we just evolved into an ever stupider kind of ape?