The center of the solar system is a huge star, the sun, whose mass accounts for 99.86% of the total mass of the entire solar system. The powerful mass brings a powerful gravitational force. In front of the sun, the eight planets and other small celestial bodies all add up to appear very small.
In the face of strong gravitation, the eight planets can only bow their heads, obey the sun, and make regular circular motions around it. The sun has become the boss of the solar system, manages and maintains the stability of the entire solar system, and brings light and warmth to the solar system, as well as the source of life to the earth.
Without the sun, the early Earth could not have formed a perfect ecosystem, and it would be impossible to give birth to primitive life and become a living planet 3.8 billion years ago. Without the sun, even if life was born on the earth, it would not be able to undergo a long evolutionary evolution and finally human beings were born. Therefore, in a sense, the sun is the mother of all life on the earth.
The sun has given the earth a very suitable position, this position is very important, and it is also the key to the continued evolution and evolution of life on earth. We must know that there is more than one planet in the habitable zone, as well as Venus and Mars. According to the research of scientists, Venus and Mars may have been beautiful ecological planets just like the Earth in their early days, and they may have given birth to early primitive life.
However, in the later development process, Venus became the planet of Purgatory, with a surface temperature of 400 degrees Celsius, and life could not survive. Mars also lost the surface liquid water and turned into a desolate desert planet. Only the earth caught in the middle still maintains a beautiful ecological environment, which improves the guarantee for the evolution and evolution of life on earth.
The main reason why the three planets in the same habitable zone have the same fate in the early stage but completely different in the later stage is the location. The difference in location caused tremendous changes in the ecological environment of the three planets in the subsequent evolution process.
This shows how important the sun is to life on earth and to mankind. In theory, as long as the distance between the earth and the sun does not change significantly, a suitable environment can always be maintained. Life on earth can always survive, and human beings can always survive on earth.
So can the earth remain the home of mankind? The answer is impossible, which is mainly related to the evolution of the sun. We all know that the sun is a star, and its combustion is the energy released by the internal nuclear fusion reaction. The combustion of nuclear fusion is different from chemical combustion, which is a spontaneous fusion reaction under strong mass pressure.
The mass of the sun is 330,000 times that of the earth, its main component is hydrogen, which accounts for three-quarters of the mass of the sun, and the rest is basically helium and a small amount of other elements. The sun is currently undergoing a hydrogen nuclear fusion reaction, where every four hydrogen nuclei fuse into one helium nucleus, which consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen per second and converts them into 596 million tons of helium.
From this data comparison, you can see that every second, hydrogen loses about 0.04 tons of mass during the process of fusion to helium. The lost mass is released in the form of energy, which means that the nuclear fusion at the center of the sun releases about 4 million tons of hydrogen energy every second.
This number looks very large, but it is insignificant compared with the mass of the sun. Although insignificant, the mass of the sun is constantly being consumed. This means that the sun is not eternal, it also has a lifespan. According to current research, the sun has a lifespan of about 10 billion years. At present, it has passed half of its years.
In another 5 billion years, all the hydrogen elements of the sun will be consumed and the fusion of hydrogen and helium will cease. When all the hydrogen in the sun is consumed, the core of the sun will collapse, and the gravitational field will no longer be able to restrain the outer shell, and the entire sun will continue to expand and evolve into a red giant star.
The continuous expansion of the sun will engulf Mercury, the orbits of Mercury and the Earth, and finally may extend to the orbit of Mars, engulfing Mars. Even if the expansion of the sun would not swallow the earth, at that time, the distance between the earth and the sun would be greatly shortened, and the temperature of the sun would also rise, the temperature of the earth would naturally rise sharply, becoming a second purgatory planet.
When the sun evolves to a red giant, it also means that the earth is no longer suitable for human survival. What should humans do at that time? Life on earth will be on the path of extinction due to the expansion of the sun, but humans may not, because we are intelligent life, with the help of science and technology.
With the help of science and technology, as long as the orbit of the sun does not reach the orbit of the earth, we can not leave the earth. Some people may say that at this time the temperature of the sun is so high, shining on the earth will also greatly increase the temperature of the earth. How can human beings survive? Under normal circumstances, human beings are indeed unable to survive on the earth.
But let us not forget that human beings are technological civilizations. At that time, we could rely on the power of science and technology to build huge sun visors on the earth’s orbit. They can block us from excess solar radiation and keep the earth’s temperature warm. Life on earth and mankind can continue to survive.
Of course, as time goes by, the expansion of the sun will get closer and closer to the earth, and the sun visor can no longer play an important role. At this time, we have to leave the earth and live on Mars temporarily. It is believed that with human technological strength, Mars will be transformed into a beautiful planet suitable for human survival in billions of years.
Of course, for the human population in the future, a small Mars cannot meet the housing needs of all humans. At this time, we don’t have to worry. In addition to living on Mars, we can also build some large migrating spacecraft. People live on spacecraft and can move away from the sun at any time.
When the sun’s expansion progresses to the end, when the sun’s outer shell breaks away from the explosion and evolves toward a white dwarf. The solar system can no longer survive. At this time, human beings can only collectively migrate to the outer galaxy and abandon the solar system we have survived for billions of years.
In any case, as long as human technology continues to develop, billions of years later, we will not have to worry about the trouble that the sun will bring after the hydrogen is burned. The power of science and technology is sufficient to solve all these difficulties. Of course, this is a relatively ideal development model for mankind. After all, billions of years are extremely long. In this long time, where is the development of mankind, no one Can give the answer.
If in the future development of mankind, science and technology civilization disappeared because of a disaster, it would return to the era of primitive civilization. At that time, facing the ever-expanding sun, mankind would be powerless, and could only stay on the earth to welcome the arrival of the final destiny with all life.