What would happen if the sun somehow went supernova?

Answer 1

It would take about 1-2 hours...


But then you'd see the entire sky light up for a few minutes, it would become intensely red and yellow, blinding.

You WOULD see it coming. A supernova explosion does NOT travel at the speed of light, so yes, you will see the sun explode before the explosion hits you.

Everything around you would become intensely white some minutes later, to the point where you wouldn't even be able to see just before it happens...opening your eyes would blind you...


And then it would happen. A few minutes after the point of pure whiteness, you'll just be instantly annihilated when the explosion hits the planet.




The entire solar system would be annihlated in just less than a day.


The explosion would continue far out into space, possibly even destroying other solar systems if they are close enough.


However, the sun will not supernova.

Answer 2

It's impossible, our sun isn't possibly large enough. Only stars 8 or more times larger can become a supernova. All our sun would do is slowly run out of the fuel within it and become a Red Giant, a star in the last stage of it's life, and eventually end up as a White Dwarf.

Answer 3

Our sun will suffer a less dramatic death but if it could magically supernova...

We would suffer a quick death the entire Earth would be incinerated a few minuets within the explosion, showered in intense radiation. The Earth itsellf would be violently torn apart and burnt up and even if we lived just outside the reach of the nova this radiation would kill all living things without exception. All of our planets would either cease to exist or have only a small core left that would slowly be burnt away.

Answer 4

The sun can never do that. It is not massive enough. All stars when die snuff all life in their system. The sun will become a red giant when all hydrogen is consumed. In this stage earth will be practically touched by the sun and swallowed up and totally vapourized. Life in the system would totally perish. The sun will proceed to become white dwarf then a brown dwarf, just a dead cold body floating in space with no planets around it or life of any kind. You don't need to worry about this happening any time soon, in about 4 and half billion years.

Answer 5

The earth would be a burnt crisp, if that's what you're asking... A supernova, however, is an astronomical certainty that won't happen for another 4 billion years, so sleep tight and just worry about Apophis, which is scheduled to hit in 2036.

Answer 6

If it would then before turning to supernova(some stage called red hot)earth and most of the other planets will be consumed by the sun

Answer 7

It's not big enough. But to give you some idea, a star 20 light years away would fry earth if it went supernova.

Answer 8

Well if it was actually going to do that in the near future it would SWELL up really big liek and engulf most of the galaxy, then it would shrink back down and since its not big enough it would shrink into a little white dwarf star. Little tiny white star that stays there forever, And if earth wasnt engulfed we would all freeze to death because it would become so cold like as cold as anything could possibly get ever!!!!!! so codl the second you took a breath your lungs would be full of ice

Answer 9

We would all fry, IF the sun were to supernova (it's too small to do so), it would explode to the diameter of Pluto's orbit, or greater... and we would be inside of the sun; cooked VERY well done.

Answer 10

I guess you realize it's not massive enough to go nova, to say nothing of a supernova.

But if it did, we'd feel it in about 8 minutes. Around the same time we'd see it. Wow, look at th...