• Natural Sciences -> Physics and astronomy

• 0 Comment

What impact would a red giant have on our solar system?

Laurine Nisot

A red giant is a star that is several times bigger than our sun. If our sun becomes a red giant, it would expand and swallow up our planet, which would mean that life on Earth as we know it would no longer exist.

However, this is not likely to happen for a very long time, as our sun is only about halfway through its life span and will not become a red giant for another 5 billion years or so. Even when it does become a red giant, it will take millions of years for it to get to the point where it would be close enough to Earth to do any harm.

In the meantime, there are other things that could impact our solar system, such as asteroids and comets. It's important for scientists to study these objects to understand their behavior and develop ways to protect our planet if necessary.