If The Sun Exploded, What Would Happen To Our Planet

Bright Side

If the sun went kaboom, Earth would be in for a cosmic rollercoaster. First off, we'd be instantly plunged into darkness because, well, no more sun. That means no warmth, and things would get freezing real quick. Without sunlight, photosynthesis would tank, messing up the whole food chain – not great news for us or any living thing. Plus, Earth would drift off into space without the sun's gravitational pull. It's like a sci-fi disaster movie, but luckily, the sun's not planning any surprise explosions anytime soon.  ☀️  #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD...   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook:     / brightside    Instagram:     / brightside.official   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of...   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00 What if the Sun went boom? Well, you can guess it would be super bad news for us.

00:05 Hmm, this was sure a short video, huh?

00:07 Nah, wait, I have more. If the Sun blew up, chaos would ensue in our solar system.

00:14 But scientists tell us that it will certainly happen one day.

00:17 But why? How exactly would events unfold? And is it possible for us to somehow survive this event?

00:25 Hey, let's delve into it.

00:27 First of all, get ready for a journey to the Sun's core.

00:30 The Sun's heart is packed with hydrogen atoms, having an out-of-this-world dance party.

00:36 These atoms are so excited that they smash into each other with all their might. And when they collide, something magical happens.

00:44 It's called nuclear fusion. And in this fusion fiesta,

00:48 the hydrogen atoms combine to form helium atoms, a chemistry experiment on a grand scale.

00:55 During this nuclear fusion, a teeny bit of mass from the hydrogen atoms is transformed into a massive amount of energy.

01:02 It's Einstein's famous equation E=mc2 coming into play.

01:07 Energy is unleashed in the form of light and heat,

01:11 radiating outwards to brighten up the entire solar system.

01:14 And once all these processes get going, a bunch of energized particles called photons join the fun.

01:21 These photons are like tiny packets of light, bouncing and zipping around in all directions.

01:27 They play a crucial role in carrying the Sun's energy through space,

01:30 illuminating our world and warming our cozy planet.

01:34 But to keep all this going so that atoms don't escape and create complete chaos,

01:39 the Sun's core needs to be under tremendous pressure.

01:43 This pressure comes from the immense weight of the Sun's outer layers

01:46 pressing down on the core. The outer layers are squeezing the inner core.

01:52 But the inner layers don't give up. The energy created from fusion and the bustling photon party tries really hard to escape the Sun's core.

02:00 But the core is so dense, like me, and the pressure is so big that the energy takes its sweet time to make its way out.

02:08 It bounces around, gets absorbed and re-emitted by other particles.

02:13 Eventually, after a long time, it reaches the Sun's surface and zooms off into space, reaching us as sunlight.

02:21 So now you know how the Sun works. Now, what happens once it reaches the end of its life?

02:27 Well, here's the twist. Our Sun has a limited supply of hydrogen fuel. In about 5 billion years,

02:34 it'll run out of its fuel. After that, the star will undergo some big changes.

02:39 Now pay attention because there's a pretty good chance we're all going to miss this.

02:44 First, the Sun will puff up and become a red giant,

02:48 exploding like a balloon. It will grow so big that it will swallow up the inner planets, including our beloved Earth.

02:55 Talk about a Sun taking up all the space. So we won't even see the end of our Sun unless we move somewhere further away.

03:03 After the red giant phase, the Sun will shrink a bit. Its outer layers will fade away into space,

03:09 leaving behind a beautiful planetary nebula. It'll be revealing its glowing core.

03:15 Ooh. The core, now filled with helium, will start sounding weird and will start fusing heavier elements like

03:23 oxygen and carbon. These reactions won't be as energetic, like a party with less dancing and more chill vibes.

03:30 Eventually, even the helium will be used up, and the Sun will become a compact white dwarf, a stellar retiree

03:38 enjoying its retirement home.

03:40 Scientists estimate that the Sun has about 7 to 8 billion years left before it dims its lights. Don't worry, though. By that time,

03:48 humanity might have traveled to far-off galaxies, or maybe even evolved into amazing space beings.

03:54 So our Sun won't go out with a bang like fireworks. It's not big enough to become a supernova or a black hole.

04:01 Those stellar superstars need way more mass than our Sun to pull off those cosmic tricks.

04:08 But what if it blew up very suddenly, just like an abrupt event without any reason? Well, let's see.

04:15 Imagine this. The Sun goes boom, and Earth is in for a wild ride. The event unleashes an insane amount of energy,

04:23 sending a shockwave racing through space at the speed of light. It takes about 8 minutes for this shockwave to reach her.

04:31 Why? Well, the Sun is a whopping 93 million miles away from us on average,

04:36 so it takes a little over 8 minutes and 20 seconds for the Sun's light to travel all that distance and reach us.

04:43 But let's talk about the event itself. It would be a great sight to witness,

04:47 but sadly, it would also be the end. Roll credits. The crazy amounts of unleashed energy would cause the Sun to expand

04:55 rapidly, again,

04:57 swallowing up the inner planets, including our Earth. And that's not all. Brace yourself for a massive burst of radiation.

05:04 The Sun would unleash a torrent of supercharged particles.

05:07 We're talking about X-rays and gamma rays, the kind that can seriously mess things up.

05:13 When these high-energy particles hit the atmosphere, they go wild, causing all sorts of chaos. They ionize the atmosphere,

05:21 creating a ginormous electromagnetic pulse. This pulse is like a shockwave for electronic devices.

05:27 It fries them, zaps them, and leaves them useless. So if your gadgets aren't protected, they're in for a rough time.

05:34 Speaking of rough times, after that, it's instant vaporization for our planet.

05:39 But the Sun's grand finale just doesn't mess with Earth. It wreaks havoc on the entire solar system.

05:45 That massive burst of energy would be crashing into everything in its path.

05:49 Planets and other objects get knocked off of their cozy orbits, causing chaos and unpredictability.

05:55 The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter? Kapow. It's gone,

06:01 obliterated or scattered to the cosmic winds. And even planets that will survive this event will probably go off their orbits to wander

06:09 somewhere. And let's not forget about the outer planets, like Jupiter and Saturn.

06:14 These giants generate their own internal heat, which keeps them cozy and attracts lots of moons.

06:20 But the Sun's boom would steal their warmth, turning them into incredibly cold places. And now that we've discussed how

06:28 catastrophic all this would be for everything in our solar system,

06:31 let's ask the logical question. Can humanity make it? The short answer is nope. We wouldn't make it.

06:39 Everything would be wiped out, except maybe some sneaky bacteria hiding in the shadows.

06:44 But in a crazy scenario where the Sun gave us a heads-up about its plans,

06:49 we might have a fighting chance. If we knew in advance and had time to prepare,

06:54 we could get our survival gears turning. So what could we do?

06:58 Since Earth itself won't survive the Sun's tantrum, we'd have to move somewhere.

07:03 Remember how we mentioned that not all planets would be completely destroyed?

07:08 Well, sadly, the ones closest to the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth would disappear.

07:14 So the easiest option would be to move to some other solar system with its own Earth-like planet.

07:20 But what if the Earth somehow managed to survive this catastrophe?

07:24 Let's not think about how it happened and just discuss the consequences.

07:29 Well, our climate would go crazy. During the first moments of the Sun's kaboom,

07:34 the radiation and particles would crank up the temperature big time, like a never-ending heat wave.

07:40 We're talking major greenhouse effect. The oceans would evaporate,

07:44 creating thick fluffy clouds that trap heat and refuse to let it escape into space.

07:49 And after that, without the Sun's warm embrace, the Earth would quickly become an icy freezer.

07:55 So we'd have to think outside the box.

07:58 One idea would be to take shelter deep underground, where we won't be that much affected by radiation and sudden temperature changes.

08:06 As you dig deeper, the temperature rises. So with the right tools and resources,

08:11 humanity could hunker down in fortified bunkers, surviving for a couple of years without the Sun's rays.

08:19 Why just a couple of years? Well, remember how we said the Sun is a gravity center of our solar system?

08:25 Without it, Earth would be adrift in search of a new center of gravity.

08:29 Imagine our planet, our trusty satellite, the Moon, and all the other planets slowly floating away into space.

08:37 Luckily, our trusty Sun is hanging in there, keeping us warm and shining for many more cosmic adventures to come.

08:45 So we're safe for a few billion years, but it's always fun to imagine impossible scenarios.

08:51 So stay tuned for more "what ifs."

08:53 That's it for today.

08:55 So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

09:00 Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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