a red giant by definition is a very large star of high luminosity and low
surface temperature red giants are thought to be in a late stage of
evolution when no hydrogen remains in the core to fuel nuclear fusion
eventually the Sun is going to become a red giant so we thought why not get a
head start and help you figure out what would happen if our Sun was a red giant
hello and welcome back to life's biggest questions the channel that looks to
answer all those burning questions you may have today's question what if our
Sun was a red giant my name is Jared Bronstein and before we get into this
video I want to know your thoughts what do you think is going to happen when the
Sun really does expand let me know in the comments down below and of course
share this video with a friend I'd love to hear what they think as well I'll be
responding to some comments from a previous video at the end of this one
but for now let's just get right into it now before we answer the question let's
talk more about what a red giant actually is so stars shine the way they
do because they're converting hydrogen into helium in their core this is called
nuclear fusion and it leads to a large buildup of helium in the core of the
star after the star uses all of its hydrogen fuel it begins to collapse on
itself this is because the outward pressure of fusion balances with the
inward pressure of gravity but before the star collapses completely the
process heats up a shell of hydrogen around the star's core so it can support
hydrogen fusion when the nuclear fusion stops gravity takes over and compresses
the star this leads to a huge temperature and energy increase which
expands the star anywhere from 100 million to 1 billion kilometers in
diameter in regards to the Sun it would be one hundred to a thousand times the
size it currently is today now that the energy is spread out across
a larger area the temperature of the surface actually drops and the color of
the star changes to red or orange because of the change in temperature so
what is going to happen when our Sun becomes a red giant well it would expand
and consumer Curie and Venus for sure it would also reach earth but scientists
aren't 100% sure whether or not earth will be completely engulfed or if it
will just orbit dangerously close to the Sun either way anything living in about
5 billion years or so when this is expected to happen and will definitely
die the reason scientists can't confirm what would happen at the planet is
because as the Sun burns hydrogen it loses mass which causes planets to orbit
further away it's also very difficult for scientists to determine how planets
orbit in the next five to six billion years but one thing is for sure the Sun
is going to get way too close to the earth causing the oceans to literally
boil but how would this affect other planets well it actually might make them
habitable because when stars morph into red giants they changed the entire
system this could possibly lead to other forms of life arise and on planets
currently on the outer solar system after the expansion of the Sun they
would be brought much closer but this would only be for a period of time
eventually all red giants turn into much smaller dimmer white dwarfs in a sense
it's the corpse of the star so to wrap up what if our Sun was a red giant well
it would destroy a handful of planets possibly engulf earth altogether and if
it didn't it definitely destroyed any living beings on the planet it would
also possibly bring new life to other planets in the outer solar system but
all of this won't happen for billions of years so I wouldn't worry too much and
now it's the moment we've all been waiting for
when I respond to comments in the video we did titled what if you spent a week
underwater Christian Salas said what if horror
films had no music that my friend is a great question that I think we should
definitely cover I've actually watched a horror movie on mute I mean obviously
not the whole movie for an hour and a half two hours but if you mute a horror
movie altogether it's not scary at all you'd if you take the music out it's
kind of funny zero-zero said I read it as what if you spent a week in your
underwear well if you did that I mean you'd probably just get a bad rash and
have to go see the doctor Matt Cedeno said this guy is fast well
Matt I'll try to talk slower I guess you know I'm just starting out here so you
guys have any tips or tricks on how to improve or what you guys want to hear or
don't want to hear you know in the sense of am I talking too fast it's too slow
you gonna try to say let me know in the comments below and that does it for this
one guys as always please drop us some comments with a question you want an
answer to let me know your thoughts in this video and be sure to give it a
thumbs up if you enjoyed it subscribe to the channel so you guys never miss a
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answer the question you asked I've been your host Jared Braunstein and until
next time keep questioning everything my friends