The sun is a star at the center of its own solar system. Eight planets revolve around it, one of which is our home, the planet Earth. The sun is the star on which our life and existence directly depends, because without it, we would not even have been born. And if the Sun disappears (as our scientists still predict, this will happen in the distant future, in a few billion years), then humanity, and the entire planet as a whole, will have a very hard time. That is why it is currently the most important star for us. One of the most intriguing and interesting topics related to space is the structure and evolution of the Sun. It is this question that we will consider in this article.
How was this star born?
The evolution of the Sun is a very important issue for our lives. It appeared much earlier than Earth. Scientistsit is assumed that now it is in the middle of its life cycle, that is, this star is already about four or five billion years old, which is very, very long. The origin and evolution of the Sun are closely intertwined, because the birth of a star plays an important role in its development.
To put it very briefly, the Sun was formed from a large accumulation of gas clouds, dust and various substances. Substances kept accumulating and accumulating, as a result of which the center of this accumulation began to acquire its own mass and gravity. It then spread throughout the nebula. Things have come to the point that the middle of this entire mass, consisting of hydrogen, acquires density and begins to draw in gas clouds and dust particles flying around. Then there was a thermonuclear reaction, thanks to which our Sun lit up. So, gradually growing, this substance was transformed into what we now call a star.
At the moment it is one of the main sources of life on Earth. If only its temperature increased by a few percent, then we would no longer exist. It was thanks to the Sun that our planet was born and had ideal conditions for further development.
Characteristics and composition of the Sun
The structure and evolution of the Sun are interconnected. It is by its structure and several other factors that scientists determine what will happen to it in the future and how it can affect humanity, the animal and plant world of our planet. Let's find out a little about thisstar.
Earlier it was believed that the Sun is an ordinary yellow dwarf, representing nothing. But later it turned out that it contains many chemical elements, and very massive ones. It would take an entire article to describe in detail what our star is made of, so I can only mention it briefly.
Hydrogen and helium play the most significant part in the composition of the Sun. It also contains many other substances, such as iron with oxygen, nickel and nitrogen, many others, but they account for only 2% of the composition.
The surface covering of this star is called the corona. It is very thin, so that it is almost invisible (except when the Sun is getting dark). The crown has an uneven surface. In this regard, it is covered with holes. It is through these holes that the solar wind seeps at great speed. Under the thin shell is the chromosphere, which is stretched in thickness for 16 thousand kilometers. It is in this part of the star that various chemical and physical reactions take place. The famous solar wind is also formed right there - an influx of a whirlwind of energy, which is often the cause of various processes on Earth (aurora borealis and magnetic storms). And the most powerful storms of fire occur in the photosphere - a dense and non-translucent layer. The main task of the gases in this part is the consumption of energy and light from the lower layers. The temperature here reaches six thousand degrees. The place of gas energy exchange is in the convective zone. From here, gases rise into the photosphere, and then return back toobtaining the required energy. And in the boiler (the lowest layer of the star) there are very important and complex processes associated with proton thermonuclear reactions. It is from here that the entire Sun receives its energy.
Sun Evolution Sequence
So we come to the most important issue of our article. The evolution of the sun is the changes that occur to the star in the course of its life: from birth to death. We have previously discussed why it is important for people to be aware of this process. Now we will analyze several stages of the evolution of the Sun in order.
One billion years from now
The temperature of the sun is predicted to increase by one ten percent. In this regard, all life on our planet will die out. So it remains to be hoped that people will master other galaxies by this time. It is also possible that some life in the ocean may still have a chance to exist. There will be a period of the maximum temperature of a star in its entire life.
Three and a half billion years later
The brightness of the Sun will almost double. In this regard, there will be a complete evaporation and volatilization of water into space, after which any earthly life will not have a chance to exist. The earth will become like Venus. Further, in the process of evolution of the Sun, its energy source will gradually burn out, the cover will expand, and the core, on the contrary, will begin to decrease.
In six and a half billion years
In the centralpoint of the sun, where the source of energy is located, the reserves of hydrogen will be completely depleted, and helium will begin its own compression due to the fact that it cannot exist in such conditions. Hydrogen particles continue to burn out only in the corona of the Sun. The star itself will begin to turn into a supergiant, increasing in volume and size. The brightness will gradually increase with temperature, resulting in even more expansion.
After eight billion years (the last stage of the development of the Sun)
The burning of hydrogen will start throughout the star. This is when her core heats up very, very strongly. The sun will completely leave its orbit in the process of expansion from all of the above processes and will have the right to be called a red giant. At this moment, the radius of the star will grow by more than 200 times, and its surface will cool. The Earth, however, will not be swallowed up by the inflamed Sun and will depart from its orbit. Later it can be absorbed. But if this does not happen, then all the same, all the water on the planet will go into a gaseous state and evaporate, and the atmosphere will still be absorbed by the strongest solar wind.
Further, over the course of several billion years, the Sun will change its state from a red giant to a small dwarf several times. In the future, it will be depleted and will go out completely.
Result
As mentioned earlier, the evolution of the Sun will greatly affect our life and the existence of the planet as a whole. As it is not very difficult to guess, in any case it will be very bad for the Earth. After all, due to its evolution, the star will destroythe entire civilization, perhaps even swallow our planet.
It was easy to draw such conclusions, because people already knew that the Sun is a star. The evolution of the Sun and stars of the same size and type proceeds in a similar way. On the basis of this, these theories were built, and also confirmed by the facts. Death is an integral part of the life of any star. And if humanity wants to survive, then in the future we will have to put all our efforts into leaving our planet and avoiding its fate.
