Sfârșitul Sistemului Solar ar putea veni mult mai repede. Astronomii răstoarnă vechile calcule

A new study suggests that the Solar System could destabilize 100 times faster than previously thought due to the Sun's transformation into a white dwarf. Researchers from Caltech and the University of Michigan found that the Sun's mass loss may occur in irregular bursts, significantly affecting the orbits of giant planets. Simulations showed that in many scenarios, the orbits of these planets intersect much earlier than expected, with some potentially being ejected into interstellar space. This discovery could alter our understanding of planetary systems around similar stars, as most stars end their lives in a similar manner. The Earth may become uninhabitable in about a billion years, with the Sun eventually engulfing it in 6-7 billion years.