the end of the world? Scientists determine when the sun will engulf the earth

Astronomers have identified a star “swallowing” a planet (just) 12,000 light-years from the Milky Way. It was the first time scientists had actually captured the action, and with that, they were able to determine how long it would take for the same thing to happen to Earth, if the sun ran out of fuel.

The submerged planet glowed 100 times brighter than usual for ten days and then faded completely. This flash was followed by a cooler, longer-lasting signal, which led astronomers to an exciting conclusion.

They asserted that the combination of the two events could only have been caused by a star engulfing a nearby planet, which was most likely a hot Jupiter-sized world. It would have been drawn into the dying star’s atmosphere and then consumed in its core.

“We were looking forward to the last stage of swallowing,” said lead author Kishalay De of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. The group discovered the planet-eating star in 2020, but understood exactly what was going on 12 months earlier.

With this information, scientists were able to determine how long it would take for the Sun to do the same to Earth. According to them, it will take about 5 billion years. “When the sun burns out, the inner planets of the solar system will be swallowed up and turned into a white dwarf.” (with information from MailOnline)