New simulations suggest Earth might not be incinerated when the sun dies. As the star swells to hundreds of times its current size, it will engulf Mercury and Venus — but our planet's fate remains uncertain.
The key lies in the delicate balance between the sun's mass loss and its gravitational pull. As the aging star sheds material, Earth's orbit could widen, potentially keeping it ahead of the expanding stellar boundary.
The models indicate that roughly half of all sun-like stars might engulf their inner planets, making survival a near-run thing. The outcome depends on exactly how much mass the sun sheds during its red giant phase.
If Earth escapes, it would drift outward into a cold, dark orbit around a white dwarf. Surface temperatures would plummet far below freezing, leaving a frozen world incapable of supporting life as we know it.
The findings offer a glimmer of hope for planetary survival, but underscore the extreme conditions such a survivor would face. No life, only a frozen remnant, would remain.