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Chapter 19: Problem 6

What will happen inside the Sun 7 billion years from now, when it begins to mature into a red giant?

Short Answer

Expert verified
In 7 billion years, the Sun will start its transformation into a red giant when it exhausts its hydrogen supply. The core will collapse under the weight of the outer layers, leading to increased temperatures and causing the outer layers to expand. The expanding Sun will turn red as it starts fusing helium into carbon in its core.

Step by step solution

01

Understand Stellar Evolution

Stars like the Sun go through a process called stellar evolution. The Sun is currently in what is known as the main sequence stage, in which it is burning hydrogen to produce helium in its core. This process releases a tremendous amount of energy, which is what makes the Sun shine so brightly.
02

The End of the Main Sequence

Once the Sun exhausts its hydrogen supply, about 7 billion years from now, it will mark the end of the main sequence stage. When all the hydrogen in the core is consumed, the core will start to collapse under the weight of the outer layers of the Sun. This will lead to higher temperatures and pressure, causing the outer layers of the Sun to expand.
03

The Sun becomes a Red Giant

As the Sun's outer layers expand, it will transform into a red giant. In this stage, the core will be hot enough to start fusing helium into carbon. This intense heat changes the color of the Sun to a reddish hue, hence the term 'red giant'. The Sun will stay in this stage for about a billion years before it sheds its outer layers and becomes a white dwarf.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

As a red giant, the Sun's luminosity will be about 2000 times greater than it is now, so the amount of solar energy falling on the Earth will increase to 2000 times its present-day value. Hence, to maintain thermal equilibrium, each square meter of the Earth's surface will have to radiate 2000 times as much energy into space as it does now. Use the Stefan-Boltzmann law to determine what the Earth's surface temperature will be under these conditions. (Hint: The present-day Earth has an average surface temperature of \(14^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\).)

Why do astronomers attribute the observed Doppler shifts of a Cepheid variable to pulsation, rather than to some other cause, such as orbital motion?

What is a red dwarf? How are thermonuclear reactions in the core of a red dwarf able to consume hydrogen from the star's outer layers?

Eventually the Sun's luminosity will increase to the point where the Earth can no longer sustain life. Discuss what measures a future civilization might take to preserve itself from such a calamity.

Why do high-mass main-sequence stars have shorter lifetimes than those of lower mass?
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