will our sun be around for a while?

Answer 1

Yes. For another 4.5 to 5 billion years. After that it will turn into a red giant, then earth will be destroyed :(

Answer 2

Yes approximately 5 billion years ago. The sun currently burns hydrogen into helium in a nuclear reaction to create energy at the rate of about 600 million tonns each second.

The Sun will continue to burn its hydrogen for several billion years more. As it depletes the supply of hydrogen, its core will shrink and temperatures will climb high enough for it to burn helium instead. The Sun's surface will puff up like a balloon, growing cooler, brighter, and redder, forming a red giant.

Eventually, as the Sun burns helium to form heavier elements, it will reach a critical point where fusion cannot release enough energy to form new elements, so fusion will end.

After that, the Sun will shed its outer layers, surrounding itself with a colorful bubble of gas called a planetary nebula. As the nebula dissipates, distributing carbon, oxygen, and other elements into the galaxy, only the Sun's collapsed core will remain -- a dense ball no bigger than Earth, containing about 60 percent of the Sun's original mass. This dead remnant is called a white dwarf. Over many billions of years, the white-dwarf Sun will cool and fade from sight, leaving behind a dark cosmic ember.

Side note: It takes 8.4 minutes for sunlight to reach earth, not many hundred years or even 9.5 minutes. 1 minute maynot seem like a lot but when the ligth travels at 300000km per second 1 minute is a huge distance.

Answer 3

Best estimates are that the sun will go on fusing hydrogen into helium for at least another 4½ billion years.

Note to Jeff: our star, Sol, is only about 9½ light-MINUTES away, so when it burns out, we'll know pretty darned quickly. It's the other stars out there that will take appreciable time to show that they've burned out.

Answer 4

For quite a while. We're about midway through it's life, with another 4 to 5 billion years to go.

Answer 5

Yes, but even if it ever were to burn out, we would know about it years and years before it would ever effect us here because we're so far away. What we're seeing in our sky today is actually the way it was a long time ago and we're just seeing it now.

Answer 6

Yes. A few billion years. Long enough that, compared to a human lifetime, or even a civilization lifetime, it can be considered infinite.

Answer 7

Yeah, 'bout another 5 billion years or do.

Doug

Answer 8

yup for a very long time