What will be the fate of our Solar System?

Answer 1

The fate of the entire solar system is difficult to prognosticate. What may eventualy happen with the "gas giant" planets is a very good question, indeed. But as far as the inner, terrestrial planets, the end is easy to describe, as our knowledge in this area is good. The sun is an utterly typical main sequence type K star. In another billion years, it will have expanded somewhat - not a lot, but probably enough to make surface life here on earth untenable (by that time, mankind, or humanity's successor, if one, will have "moved on"). Over the next 3.5 billion years, the outer shell of the sun will get larger and redder, swallowing in sequence Mercury, Venus and ultimately Earth (it may eventually swallow Mars, though that is a "question" area).

Then the sun's core will reach the point where it can no longer convert any elements atomically. It will violently collapse, and blow off the outer shell of gas. Our sun will then appear at a distance exactly like the Ring Nebula in Lyra does today. The core of the sun will be a "white dwarf". Which brings us back to what will happen to the four gas giants. What indeed??

Answer 2

As the solar system is not a living organism it cannot literally 'die'.

When our Sun leaves the main sequence and becomes a red giant the inner planets will be unable to support life and some will be destroyed.

But sleep well, this will not happen in the near future, but in about 5 billion years.

Answer 3

It is generally believed, that in about 1 billion years the Sun would have expanded and heated up. This would increase the temperature on the Earth to such a degree that water will begin to evaporate. It is in this period, that planetary scientist, believe that Mars will "come to life" as the temperature has increased enough for water to flow again.

In 4.5 billion years, all the hydrogen in the Suns core would have been exhausted and the outer envelope will expand to about the orbit of the Earth. Our Sun will become a red giant.

Mercury and Venus will be obliterated. The Earth will be nothing more than a molten shell.

After about another billion years as a red giant, our Sun will shed it's outer layers as a planetary nebula, leaving behind a hot dense core called a white dwarf.

The shedding of the Suns outer layers will probably sweep away the lighter elements from the rest of the gas planets, leaving behind small dense cores.

All that will be left will be a small hot dense core of the Sun and the remains of the 5 planets cores orbiting the Suns remains.

Answer 4

We cannot know. We can be fairly sure that after 6 billion years the Sun will have gone through its red giant phase, and that the inner planets Mercury, Venus and Earth will have been destroyed (unless we've moved them out of danger before the expansion!)

But the Milky Way galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy in about 4 billion years, and we really cannot predict what will happen.

Answer 5

Billions of years in the future, the Sun will expand into a red giant, engulfing Mercury and Venus, and likely destroying Earth. Eventually, the Sun will shed its outer layers, forming a planetary nebula, leaving behind a cooling remnant called a white dwarf. The rest of the solar system's planets will continue to orbit the white dwarf or be ejected into interstellar space.