00:00And if the sun was booming, you guessed it, it would be very bad news.
00:05Hmm, this video was really short today, huh?
00:09But wait, I have something else.
00:11If the sun exploded, it would be chaos in the solar system.
00:14And scientists tell us that it will inevitably happen one day.
00:18But why?
00:20And how will it happen exactly?
00:23Will it be possible for us to survive?
00:25Well, we'll see all that.
00:28We will first make a trip to the heart of the sun.
00:31It is filled with hydrogen atoms which are delivered to an incredible dance of the devil.
00:36These atoms are so excited that they collide constantly with all their strength.
00:41And when they collide, something magical happens.
00:45What is called nuclear fusion.
00:47Thanks to this huge fiesta, hydrogen atoms combine to form helium atoms.
00:52A large-scale chemistry experiment.
00:55During this nuclear fusion, a very small part of the mass of hydrogen atoms is transformed into a huge amount of energy.
01:03It's Einstein's famous equation, E-PAC-MC2.
01:08The energy is released in the form of light and heat,
01:11shining outward and illuminating the entire solar system.
01:15And once this process is underway,
01:17a whole bunch of energized particles called photons join the adventure.
01:22These photons are like tiny packets of light
01:25that bounce and move in all directions.
01:28They play a crucial role in transporting the energy of the sun into space,
01:32illuminating our world and warming our planet.
01:35But for all this to continue, for the atoms not to escape to create total chaos,
01:41the heart of the sun must be subjected to enormous pressure.
01:44This pressure comes from the immense weight of the outer layers of the sun that weigh on the heart.
01:50The outer layers compress the inner nucleus.
01:53But the inner layers don't let go.
01:55Energy and photons do everything they can to escape the heart of the sun.
01:59But this nucleus is very dense, immensely dense.
02:02And the pressure is so strong that energy takes an eternity to escape.
02:06It bounces, is absorbed and re-emitted by other particles.
02:10Finally, after a long time, it reaches the surface of the sun
02:14and flies into space to reach us in the form of light.
02:17You now know how the sun works.
02:20Now, what happens when it finally comes to life?
02:23Well, here it is.
02:24Our sun has a limited reserve of hydrogen.
02:27In about 5 billion years, it will run out of fuel.
02:31After that, our star will undergo great changes.
02:34So be careful, because there is a good chance that we will miss the event.
02:39First of all, the sun will swell and become a giant red, dilating like a balloon.
02:45It will become so big that it will engulf the inner planets, including our beloved Earth.
02:51A really boring sun, which takes up all the space.
02:55So we will not see these last days, unless we move very far.
03:00After the giant red phase, the sun will shrink a little.
03:04Its outer layers will vanish into space, leaving behind a magnificent planetary nebula.
03:10It will reveal its incandescent nucleus.
03:13Oh, the nucleus, now filled with helium, will have a strange voice.
03:18No, it will start to fuse heavier elements, like oxygen and carbon.
03:23These reactions will not be as vigorous, as at the end of a party, when you are a little tired.
03:28Finally, helium will eventually run out too, and the sun will become a compact white dwarf.
03:34A stellar retiree, enjoying his old days.
03:37Scientists estimate that it will remain in the sun for about 7 to 8 billion years, before it turns off its lights.
03:44Don't worry, by then, humanity may have already gone to a distant galaxy,
03:49or even evolved into a new and surprising species.
03:53Our sun will not go out with a flash, like a firework.
03:57It is not big enough to become a supernova or a black hole.
04:01These space superstars need a much larger mass than our sun can become.
04:07But what would happen if it suddenly exploded?
04:09Like that, brutally and without reason.
04:13Imagine, the sun goes boom, a situation of the most delicate on earth.
04:18The event releases a crazy amount of energy, sending a shock wave that crosses space at the speed of light.
04:24It takes about 8 minutes for this wave to reach us.
04:27Why? Well, the sun is about 150 million kilometers from us.
04:32It takes a little more than 8 minutes and 20 seconds for its light to travel all this distance and reach us.
04:38But let's talk about the event itself.
04:40It would be a great show, but unfortunately, it would also be the end.
04:44The crazy amounts of energy released would cause a rapid expansion of the sun,
04:49which would swallow the inner planets, including our Earth.
04:53And that's not all.
04:54Get ready for a gigantic burst of radiation.
04:57The sun would pour a torrent of supercharged particles.
05:00X-rays and gamma rays, the kind of particles that can seriously shake everything.
05:06By reaching our atmosphere, these high-energy particles will cause incredible chaos.
05:11They will ionize the atmosphere, creating a huge electromagnetic impulse.
05:16This impulse is like a shock wave for electronic devices.
05:20It grills them and makes them unusable.
05:23If your gadgets are not protected, they may go a bad quarter of an hour.
05:27Speaking of a bad quarter of an hour, after that, it is the instantaneous evaporation that awaits us.
05:33But the final bouquet of the sun will not only touch the Earth.
05:36It will wreak havoc on the entire solar system.
05:39This huge explosion of energy will crush everything in its path.
05:43The planets will be ejected from their comfortable orbits, which will cause a huge mess.
05:48The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter?
05:51Goodbye, it will disappear.
05:53Obliterated or dispersed in the cosmic winds.
05:56And even the planets that will survive the event will leave their orbits to go back into space.
06:01And let's not forget the external planets, like Jupiter and Saturn.
06:04These giants generate their own heat, which gives them a certain comfort and attracts many moons.
06:10But the boom of the sun would steal this heat from them, turning them into incredibly cold places.
06:16Now that we have talked about the disaster that this would represent for the solar system.
06:21Let's ask the following question.
06:23Can humanity get by without it?
06:25The short answer is no, it is not possible.
06:28Everything would be destroyed, except perhaps some discrete bacteria hidden in the shadows.
06:33But in the unimaginable case where the sun would have warned us in advance,
06:37we could have a chance of getting by.
06:40If we were informed and had enough time to prepare,
06:44we could activate our survival mechanism.
06:46What does that mean?
06:48As the Earth would not survive the anger of the sun, we would have to move elsewhere.
06:52Do you remember that we said that all the planets would not be completely destroyed?
06:57Alas, the closest to the sun, Mercury, Venus and Earth would disappear.
07:02The simplest option would be to move to another solar system with a planet similar to Earth.
07:08But what would happen if Earth managed to survive the disaster?
07:12Let's not ask how, but let's just think about the consequences.
07:16Well, our climate would go crazy.
07:19During the first moments of the big explosion,
07:21the radiation and particles would raise the temperature by an arrow.
07:25A never-ending heatwave, a nightmarish greenhouse effect,
07:28the oceans would evaporate, creating thick clouds that would retain the heat
07:33and would no longer let it escape into space.
07:35And after that, without the heat of the sun, the Earth would become a real freezer.
07:41So we have to get out of the beaten path.
07:43An idea would be to take shelter deep underground,
07:46where we will not be so affected by radiation and sudden temperature changes.
07:51The more you dig, the higher the temperature.
07:54Thus, with the right tools and the right resources,
07:58humanity could dig into fortified bunkers
08:01and survive for a few years without the sun's rays.
08:04Why only a few years?
08:06Do you remember that we said that the sun is the center of gravity of our solar system?
08:11Without it, the Earth would be drifting, looking for a new center of gravity.
08:17Imagine our planet, our faithful satellite, the moon,
08:21and all the other planets floating slowly in space.
08:24Fortunately, our faithful sun is doing well,
08:27keeping us warm and lighting us up for quite some time.
08:30We are therefore safe for a few billion years.
08:33But it is always fun to imagine impossible scenarios.
08:37So see you soon for new adventures.
Comments