Scientists have long estimated that the Sun will explode within the next 5 billion years.

A new study says that when this happens, the Sun will destroy Mercury, Venus and Earth. However, it is not entirely clear how such a destruction will occur. To find out, scientists conducted several 3D hydrodynamic simulations. This made it possible to consider possible scenarios of the development of events after the star absorbs the planet. Simulations showed that they depend on the size of the planet and the current state of the star.

In some cases, due to Earth’s size, it will not be completely absorbed like Venus and Mercury. At the same time, life on it will become impossible. This will happen because when the star enters the red giant stage, it will use up all of its hydrogen. After that, the outer shells of the Sun will expand many times and absorb our planet.

In some scenarios, Earth would be pulled into a much narrower orbit around the Sun, causing the dying star to kill it too. But in some, other changes are possible that will lead to the emergence of a new world.

According to experts, our Sun has reached the middle of its life — approximately 4.57 billion years. They also believe that this is the cause of the solar activity we observe. In 5 billion years it will begin to die.

Scientists used to say that our fiery ball of gas would disappear in trillions of years, and a recent study found that the Sun is in for many changes that will happen much sooner, heralding the end of the solar system.