My roommate is currently working on a film about the sun dying (probably supernova) -and she's looking for some scientific facts. What would happen to the Earth if the sun were to die out? How much warning would we have? How quickly would life die out on Earth? Would there be any way to save ourselves? Any info appreciated. Thanks
Nikki
Assuming some cataclysmic intervention causes our rather small star to artificially supernova then probably the first thing we would notice is that there was a vast and intense neutrino pulse from the Sun.
This pulse would be generated by the core of the sun collapsing in the first instants of the supernova.
So your scientist sitting in the monitoring room of the neutrino telescope sipping a coffee whilst idly flicking through a Harrod's lingerie catalogue would be unlikely to notice the neutrino surge at first.
In the next couple of microseconds the core of the Sun would rebound from the solid mass of neutrons created at it's heart by the massive compression. This rebound is actually the explosion. The outrushing energy wave blows off almost the entire mass of the star.
Now that sounds like a pretty bad thing.
And it is.
Especially as our hero scientist is so engrossed that they haven't noticed what's coming yet.
So now the Sun starts to actually explode. All the inner parts of the Sun are rushing outward compressing everything in their path. All this releases energy. Really staggering amounts of energy. Lots more energy than your new plasma TV uses. Lots more energy than even your new Hummer uses.
The actual explosion part of the process only takes a few seconds and our hero is almost down to the bottom of their cup.
Let's step along for say half a minute.
Now the Sun is really exploding.
Big time. We're talking Hollywood-bags-of-petrol-hidden-in-the-car-so-it-blows-up-when-it-hits-the-kerb type explosions here.
Big badda boom.
And our hero has finally looked up at the data streaming into the supercomputer used to analyse the readings and alarm bells should hopefully start ringing in their head. Or preferably in the building.
Lets assume our hero instantly divines what has happened and realises that the Sun has just gone "pop".
What should they do ?
Well by this time they're only going to have about 8 minutes before the explosion hits and that's not very long at all.
What to do ?
Phone Mom ?
Go and "explain" things to the rather nice post-grad down the hall who has had their eye on you for the last week ?
Pour another coffee ?
Frankly it's not going to matter much as when the explosion front hits the planet it's going to strip away the atmosphere like you'd strip the wrapper from a KitKat.
Then in the next couple of milliseconds it's going to strip away the entire surface of the planet in a wave of insanely hot nuclear fire.
By this time of course the coffee has warmed up to the point that the cup is far too hot to hold as it's now a cloud of fully ionised gas. Along with the coffee.
Then the mass of the explosion hits and you really must put your sunglasses on before you go blind.
The planet basically dissolves in the next couple of milliseconds.
It turns into a screaming cloud of gas propelled out of the Solar System by the fatal thermonuclear explosion of the Sun.
All of the other planets would go the same way.
All of them.
Perhaps the very core of Jupiter might survive but what's left over would be very, very small when the Sun is done having it's little tantrum.
Supernovae are bad.
You don't want one going off in your back yard.
And by back yard I mean the nearest 250 light years or so.
They can ruin your whole day.
