‘Glorious’ death for the Sun in 10 billion years

A DRAMATIC death is predicted for the Sun in 10 billion years as our parent star morphs into a planetary nebula, say UK scientists.

Until now astronomers have agreed on the Sun’s expected life span, but the nature of its death has been controversial. New research suggests the Sun will become a planetary nebula – a massive glowing globe of gas and dust.

Planetary nebulae are among the most beautiful objects seen by astronomers, some seen millions of light years away.

But a star has to be above a certain mass to create a visible nebula and until now it was thought the sun was too light.

The research published in journal Nature Astronomy shows the Sun is just massive enough to end its life in glorious style, as a luminous planetary nebula.

Professor Albert Zijlstra, a member of the international team from the University of Manchester, said: “When a star dies it ejects a mass of gas and dust – known as its envelope – into space. The envelope can be as much as half the star’s mass. This reveals the star’s core, which is running out of fuel before finally dying.

“It is only then the hot core makes the ejected envelope shine brightly for around 10,000 years – a brief period in astronomy. This is what makes the planetary nebula visible.”

The scientists developed a data model to predict the life cycle of stars. It showed after ejection of the envelope, dying stars heated up faster than was previously thought. This made it easier for a low-mass star such as the sun to produce a nebula.