Is it possible

[Carl]

Watched a Space promotional DVD earlier and it said about us looking for a new world, to colonize when the sun explodes.

Is this actually possible? i didn`t think it was, cause when the sun explodes, Mercury, Venus (maybe us) will be gulfed into the sun, and plus if we don`t get engullfed all the planets left would be non Enhabital becuase there wouldn`t be any heat/light cause they`re wouldn`t be no sun and we`ll all starve/ freeze to death.

~Thanks~

\o/ \o/

II Carl II

/ \ / \

[Andrew*]

I think the next stage in our sun's life (5 or so billion years from now) is a red giant, meaning it will expand to 100x its present size, swallowign up venus and mercury, and then cool, rather than explode

Somethign like that.

Probably wrong.

Andrew

[gary1968]

Howdy,

Mars, or so I've read, is out next home. With a bit of geoforming it'll be fine to support human life............. That should get us out of harms way for a few millenia 8)

Factor 3000000 might be a good idea though as the sun will expand to several hundred times it's current size.

Gary

[The Warthog]

I'm not going to stay up worrying about it.

[barkis]

I reckon Europa would be the best bet as a lifeboat for a few hundred years when the sun is evolving to the red giant stage.

Even though we were told to stay away (2010 A space Odyssey). The only irony would be if Jupiter was somehow donated the extra mass required to start nuclear fusion. If that were the case, the old saying "Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire", would be very apt indeed.

In Cheek.

Ron.

[ZOG]

I watched a documentary the other week on the same subject. It also had loads of info on the other planets and their moons. Some scientists believe that at any time the sun could give off a solar flare large enough to wipe out life on Earth. No good worrying about it, if it happens, it happens.

[Carl]

I ain`t worrying bout just wandered.I ain`t having kids anyway unless we actually slow down Climate Change.

[Astroman]

Wow. I go away for a few days...

1) The Sun isn't going to explode. Ever. It doesn't have enough mass.

2) The time frame for the Sun to begin its red giant phase in ~5 million years. Its life will end in ~5 Billion years, when it will be an exposed white dwarf. During the red giant phase the Sun will expand out to the approximate orbit of Mars, or just inside it. It's believed Earth itself will survive, if the phase doesn't last too long, (usually in the 100,000 year range), but all life will be snuffed. The planet will look more like Mercury at the surface. Mercury and Venus will spiral in to the Sun due to atmospheric drag, and Earth's orbit will be substantially closer, assuming we survive.

3) Terraforming Mars is an interesting idea, but we do not currently have the technology to do it on a planetary scale. Global warming aside, we can't direct it effectively to gain a desired result. Survival on Mars would be highly localized near known sources of water and depend entirely on adapting to the local conditions. I wouldn't count on it for the human race.

4) Don't mess with Europa, Earthlings! :)

That said, We don't have enough information about Europa to assess surviability issues there. Maybe in 1,000 years of study, we can come up with something. Proximity-wise, it may be a good location-far enough from the Sun, but what does the Sun do to the "frozen ocean"? And imagine the tides from Jupiter!

5) The Sun is less active now than in its formative years. The Earth's magntetosphere has protected us from ever since period, so it seems it should protect us in the future. Unless the magneto stops, (as in that science farce, uh, fiction movie The Core. Once again though, never underestimate a nuclear fusion furnace 86,000 miles across!

Myself, I'm always open to possible "escapes", but I'll be staying, thank you very much.

[magician]

The Idea of 'Terraforming' anywhere albeit hypothetical at the moment, fills me with dread,but I wonder what political, religious, social, baggage would develop? Olaf Stapledon's book The Last and First Men (A History of the next 2000 million years!)will stretch your imagination given that we are still evolving---Well the weather is still grim-- :)

Cheers Frank