The Sun's Final Form: Radius, Mass & Composition

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The Sun will ultimately transform into a white dwarf after expelling its outer layers, resulting in a core primarily composed of carbon and oxygen. This white dwarf will have a radius approximately 1/100th of its current size and will continue to emit light for an extended period due to its residual heat. Eventually, it will cool down and cease to emit visible radiation, becoming a black dwarf. This process marks the final evolutionary stage of the Sun.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of stellar evolution concepts
  • Familiarity with white dwarf characteristics
  • Knowledge of carbon and oxygen composition in stellar remnants
  • Basic grasp of thermodynamics related to stellar cooling
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the lifecycle of stars, focusing on the transition from main sequence to white dwarf
  • Explore the physics of white dwarfs, including their mass-radius relationship
  • Investigate the cooling process of white dwarfs and the concept of black dwarfs
  • Watch the video "The Future of Our Sun" for visual insights into stellar evolution
USEFUL FOR

Astronomy enthusiasts, astrophysicists, and students studying stellar evolution will benefit from this discussion, as it provides a clear understanding of the Sun's future and the characteristics of white dwarfs.

Helios
Messages
267
Reaction score
63
When the Sun burns out entirely and reaches the ambient temperature of outer space, what will be its radius, mass, and composition? What would we call such a thing?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
The Sun will blow off its outer layers and will exist as nothing more than an exposed, dead core. This is known as a white dwarf. It'll be mostly carbon and oxygen, and will have a radius of only about 1/100th of the Sun in its present state. It will continue to shine for a very long time, since it'll be hot and have a small surface area. Eventually, it'll cool to the point where it will no longer emit any visible radiation. It will become a "black dwarf."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf

- Warren
 
I've cut and paste the following I posted in a previous thread regarding the future of our sun- https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=1267025#post1267025

'Below is a link to a web page created by Helmut Schattl of the Max Planck Institute regarding the future of our sun-

http://home.arcor.de/helmut.schlattl/astro/animation/english/anim_index.html

There's a 7 minute video which is informative (this is a bit tricky to d/l. Right click on "The Future of Our Sun" and 'save target as'. In the 'file name' box, replace the second suffix .avi with .bz2 so the file name reads sun.avi.bz2, then in the 'save as type' box, change to 'all files', then save the file to your computer. Once saved, the zipped file can be opened with bzip2 or winRAR software. Alternatively, the video is posted on YouTube under the same title).'

regards
Steve
 

Similar threads

Undergrad Composition of Jupiter: Ices, Cores & Outer Gas Layers
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
4K
Undergrad Why Does Gravity Remain when Star Mass Dissipates?
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
High School Process of a sun changing into a white dwarf
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Graduate Why Is Asteroid Composition Highly Varied?
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
4K
Undergrad Nuclear reactions in the Sun and other topics on stars
  • · Replies 49 ·
2
Replies
49
Views
5K
Undergrad Mass Loss on an HR diagram
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
High School What happens to the Core of a main sequence star as additional mass is added?
  • · Replies 42 ·
2
Replies
42
Views
5K
Undergrad New Developments In The Search For Planet X
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
Graduate Dark Matter Accretion Disk for Black Hole (Neutron Star)
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
High School Evolution of planetary system around a white dwarf
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
2K