2006-12-31 05:58:06 · 14 answers · asked by Rog 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The sun is in the middle of a billion year burning process. Lets look at this with examples. What will burn faster, a flat peice of paper or the same piece of paper crumpled into a ball? The ball of course. Now, what if we crumpled it to the size of a cell? Then it would take years and years to burn. The density of that piece of paper would similarly match the density of the sun.
The sun is soo big and soo dense that it takes that long for all the "burnable" stuff in it to completely burn up.
2006-12-31 06:22:50 · answer #1 · answered by Elite 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The sun is a gigantic ball of hydrogen-- much larger than the entire earth. Eventually (a few billion years scientists estimate) the reaction will stop when the hydrogen runs out. So it will eventually burn up.
2006-12-31 06:01:12 · answer #2 · answered by j 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when the sun is finished burning hydogen it will begin to burn helium but in order to do that it will swell up and become a red giant.
When it has exhausted its supply of helium it will try burning heavier elements but wont be able to so instead it will again grow larger in an effort to create the hot temperature required and shed its outer layers and become a white neutron star.
2006-12-31 06:30:45 · answer #3 · answered by harvardgurl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is burning up - it's just taking a long time to burn out.
2006-12-31 06:01:16 · answer #4 · answered by trevorgl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The sun isnt big enough to go supernova. It will get huge, red, and less dense, and the outer parts will blow off, causing it to become a white dwarf.
2006-12-31 10:48:13 · answer #5 · answered by Mike S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is. when it exhausts it 's supply of hydrogen, it will swell to the size of a red giant, engulfing the three inner most planets, searing the other five, before collapsing into a brown dwarf.
2006-12-31 06:01:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is burning up, but it's huge so it's taking a while.
2006-12-31 06:00:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is burning up, but it is so immense it will take billions of years for it to finally consume itself.
2006-12-31 06:06:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is burned up, we just don't know it yet because of the speed of light.
2006-12-31 06:01:02 · answer #9 · answered by don 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That is what he does.The sun is an atomic bomb who fuses hydrogen to helium
2007-01-01 08:09:56 · answer #10 · answered by qwine2000 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋