Can We Survive The Sun's Death?

AsapSCIENCE

8 Oct 201303:36

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe video script discusses the inevitable expansion of the sun in about a billion years, which will lead to Earth's surface melting due to increased heat. To potentially avoid this catastrophic event, the concept of 'Gravity Assist' is introduced as a method to alter Earth's orbit. This technique, already used to propel spacecraft, could theoretically be scaled up to use asteroids to gradually shift Earth's orbit further from the sun over millions of years. The script highlights the successful use of gravity assist with the Juno spacecraft on its mission to Jupiter. However, such a plan comes with significant risks, including the potential loss of the moon, altered day lengths, destabilization of neighboring planets' orbits, and the accidental collision with an asteroid. Despite these challenges, the idea is presented as a bold step to secure the future of Earth and its inhabitants.

Takeaways

🌞 The sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old and is aging, which will eventually lead to significant changes in our solar system.
🌡️ In over a billion years, the sun will expand, increasing heat to the point where Earth's surface will begin to melt.
🌌 At the billion-year mark, the sun will have depleted its core hydrogen fuel, leading to it burning at its surface and increasing radiation.
🌍 The increased radiation will boil away Earth's water, creating a global desert and making the planet inhospitable.
🔥 Around 5 billion years from now, the sun will have swelled enough to literally melt mountains on Earth, leading to mass extinction.
🌌 By 7.5 billion years, the sun, now a Red Giant, will have engulfed the Earth entirely.
🚀 Our best bet to avoid this scenario is through a technique known as 'Gravity Assist', which has been used to propel spacecrafts.
🪐 Gravity Assist involves using a planet's gravity to increase a spacecraft's velocity, which slightly alters the planet's motion in return.
💥 If we were to use larger objects, such as asteroids, we could potentially move Earth's orbit away from the sun over millions of years.
🔄 The process would require approximately one gravity assist encounter every 6,000 years with a massive object, like a 100 km-wide asteroid.
⚙️ While feasible, there are significant risks involved, including the potential loss of the moon, changes to Earth's spin, and destabilization of neighboring planets' orbits.
🚨 The asteroid used for gravity assist could also pose a risk if it were to accidentally collide with Earth.

Q & A

How old is the sun currently?
-The sun is around 4.5 billion years old.
What will happen to the Earth in just over a billion years due to the sun's expansion?
-In just over a billion years, the sun will have expanded so much that the heat will begin to melt the Earth's surface.
What happens to the sun at the billion year mark in terms of its fuel?
-At the billion year mark, the sun will have used up the hydrogen fuel in its core, forcing it to burn at its surface.
What is the outcome of the increased radiation from the sun on Earth?
-The increased radiation will boil away all of the water on Earth, creating an international desert.
Around how many years from now will the sun begin melting mountains on Earth?
-Around 5 billion years from now, the swelling sun will begin literally melting mountains, with most, if not all life on Earth now extinct.
What will the sun become around 7.5 billion years and what will happen to the Earth at that time?
-Around 7.5 billion years, the expanding sun will become a Red Giant and will engulf the Earth entirely.
What is the concept of 'Gravity Assist' and how is it used in space travel?
-Gravity Assist is a technique used to launch spacecrafts throughout our solar system. When a spacecraft or satellite comes in close proximity to a planet, gravity grabs hold, and if the spacecraft arrives at the perfect angle, it can use some of the planet's velocity to catapult it further into space.
How does the mass of the spacecraft affect the gravitational interaction with a planet?
-The spacecraft's mass is so small comparatively that it gets launched incredibly far, while the planet experiences little change. However, if we were to increase the spacecraft's size or use an asteroid, we could potentially move the Earth's orbit away from the sun.
What is the significance of the event that occurred on October 9th, 2013, in relation to the concept of gravity assist?
-On October 9th, 2013, Earth was used to gravity assist a spacecraft called Juno, which was on its way to Jupiter. As Juno flew within 559 kilometers of Earth, it used Earth's gravity as a slingshot to boost its velocity.
What would be the approximate mass of the object needed to move the Earth's orbit within a billion-year timeline?
-To move the Earth within our billion-year timeline, we would need approximately 1 encounter every 6,000 years, using an object with a mass of approximately 10^19 kg, which is around the size of a 100 km-wide asteroid.
What are some potential risks associated with using gravity assist to move the Earth's orbit?
-Some potential risks include losing the moon, which could create extreme weather patterns, an increase in the Earth's spin making days only hours long, destabilization of the orbits of surrounding planets like Mars, and the accidental collision of the asteroid with Earth.
What was the purpose of the Juno spacecraft's mission to Jupiter?
-The purpose of the Juno spacecraft's mission to Jupiter was to study the interior of the planet and help unveil many new spectacular mysteries of our Solar System.

Outlines

00:00

🌞 The Aging Sun and Earth's Future

The paragraph discusses the sun's current age of 4.5 billion years and its inevitable expansion in a billion years, leading to increased heat that could melt the Earth's surface. It raises the question of whether humans can prevent this catastrophic event and suggests that the sun will use up its hydrogen fuel, causing it to burn at its surface and boil away Earth's water. The paragraph also notes that in about 5 billion years, the sun will have melted mountains and made life on Earth extinct, and around 7.5 billion years, the sun will engulf Earth as a Red Giant. It introduces the concept of 'Gravity Assist' as a potential solution, explaining how it works with spacecraft and how it could theoretically be used to move Earth's orbit away from the sun, thus saving it from the sun's expansion.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Aging Sun

The term 'Aging Sun' refers to the current stage of the Sun's life cycle, which is approximately 4.5 billion years old. As the Sun ages, it undergoes changes that will eventually lead to its expansion and the end of life on Earth as we know it. In the video, this concept is used to introduce the problem of the Sun's eventual death and how it will affect Earth's habitability.

💡Heat Expansion

Heat expansion is the process by which an object increases in size due to the application of heat. In the context of the video, the Sun's heat expansion is a critical event that will occur in the future, causing it to grow so much that it will begin melting the Earth's surface, leading to inhospitable conditions.

💡Gravity Assist

Gravity assist, also known as a gravity slingshot or swing-by, is a technique used in spaceflight to utilize the gravitational pull of a planet or other celestial body to alter the path and speed of a spacecraft. This technique allows spacecraft to gain speed without using additional fuel, making it an efficient way to travel through the solar system. In the video, gravity assist is presented as a potential solution to move Earth's orbit away from the Sun and avoid the detrimental effects of its aging process.

💡Red Giant

A Red Giant is a stage in the life cycle of a star, like our Sun, where it expands and cools down, becoming redder in color. This happens when the star exhausts its hydrogen fuel in the core and begins burning helium. In the video, the Sun's transformation into a Red Giant is highlighted as a critical event that will lead to the engulfing of the Earth, making it uninhabitable.

💡Spacecraft Juno

Spacecraft Juno is a specific example of a spacecraft that uses gravity assist in its mission to study Jupiter. Launched by NASA, Juno uses Earth's gravity to increase its velocity and reach Jupiter, where it will study the planet's interior and gather valuable data about our solar system. The video uses Juno as an example of how gravity assist can be applied in space exploration.

💡Orbit

An orbit is the curved path that a celestial body, such as a planet or a spacecraft, follows around another body due to gravity. In the video, the concept of orbit is crucial as it discusses the possibility of altering Earth's orbit to avoid the Sun's expansion. By changing Earth's orbit, it could be moved to a safer distance from the Sun.

💡Asteroid

An asteroid is a small, rocky body that orbits the Sun. In the context of the video, asteroids are proposed as potential objects that could be used for gravity assists to gradually change Earth's orbit. The idea is that by carefully orchestrating encounters between Earth and large asteroids, it might be possible to move our planet to a safer distance from the Sun.

💡Newton's Third Law

Newton's Third Law, also known as the action-reaction law, states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the context of the video, this law is fundamental to understanding how gravity assists work. When a spacecraft uses the gravity of a planet to accelerate, the planet, in turn, experiences a slight change in its motion due to this law.

💡Hydrogen Fuel

Hydrogen fuel refers to the hydrogen核, which is used in nuclear fusion reactions to produce energy. In the case of the Sun, hydrogen nuclei fuse together to create helium and release vast amounts of energy in the process. The video mentions that the Sun will eventually use up its hydrogen fuel, leading to changes in its behavior and eventual expansion.

💡International Desert

The term 'international desert' is used in the video to describe a hypothetical future state of Earth where increased radiation from the aging Sun has boiled away all of the planet's water, creating a desert-like condition across the entire globe. This concept illustrates the drastic changes that will occur on Earth due to the Sun's expansion and the resulting uninhabitability of our planet.

💡Risks

Risks, in the context of the video, refer to the potential negative consequences or challenges associated with using gravity assists to move Earth's orbit. These risks include the loss of the Moon, changes to Earth's spin, destabilization of other planets' orbits, and the possibility of an asteroid accidentally colliding with Earth.

Highlights

The sun is around 4.5 billion years old and is aging.

In about a billion years, the sun will expand significantly, potentially melting the Earth's surface.

The sun will use up its hydrogen fuel in its core at the billion-year mark, leading to surface burning.

Increased radiation will boil away Earth's water, creating an international desert.

Around 5 billion years, the sun will begin melting mountains, leading to mass extinction.

At 7.5 billion years, the sun, now a Red Giant, will completely engulf the Earth.

Gravity Assist is proposed as a potential method to move Earth's orbit away from the sun.

The technique of Gravity Assist has been used for years to launch spacecrafts throughout the solar system.

Spacecrafts can use a planet's gravity to gain velocity and move further into space.

The spacecraft's use of Earth's gravity to speed up results in a slight slowing down of the Earth.

Increasing the spacecraft's size or using an asteroid could potentially shift Earth's orbit.

The process would take millions of years and involve large objects performing gravity assists.

On October 9th, 2013, Earth was used to gravity assist the Juno spacecraft on its way to Jupiter.

Juno's gravity assist from Earth increased its velocity by 7.3 km/s, while Earth moved fractionally.

To move Earth within a billion-year timeline, approximately one gravity assist encounter every 6,000 years is needed using a massive object.

The asteroid used for gravity assist would need to be around 100 km wide.

Over millions of years, this process could move Earth to a safer orbit 225 million kilometers from the sun.

There are risks involved, such as losing the moon, changing the Earth's spin, and destabilizing neighboring planets' orbits.

The asteroid used for gravity assist could accidentally collide with Earth.

These risks might be necessary to extend the Earth's habitability for future generations.

Transcripts

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Can We Survive The Sun's Death?

Takeaways

Q & A

How old is the sun currently?

What will happen to the Earth in just over a billion years due to the sun's expansion?

What happens to the sun at the billion year mark in terms of its fuel?

What is the outcome of the increased radiation from the sun on Earth?

Around how many years from now will the sun begin melting mountains on Earth?

What will the sun become around 7.5 billion years and what will happen to the Earth at that time?

What is the concept of 'Gravity Assist' and how is it used in space travel?

How does the mass of the spacecraft affect the gravitational interaction with a planet?

What is the significance of the event that occurred on October 9th, 2013, in relation to the concept of gravity assist?

What would be the approximate mass of the object needed to move the Earth's orbit within a billion-year timeline?

What are some potential risks associated with using gravity assist to move the Earth's orbit?

What was the purpose of the Juno spacecraft's mission to Jupiter?