No, the Sun will not become a black hole. Black holes are incredibly dense objects that are formed when very massive stars collapse in on themselves at the end of their lives. The Sun is not massive enough to become a black hole. Instead, it will eventually exhaust its supply of hydrogen fuel and expand into a red giant. After it shreds its outer layers, it will shrink down into a white dwarf.
The Sun will not become a black hole
The Sun contains about 99.86% of the mass in the solar system. The remaining 0.14% is made up of the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other objects that orbit the Sun. This means that the Sun is incredibly massive compared to the other objects in the solar system, and its gravitational pull is what keeps everything in orbit around it.
Despite that, its mass is simply not enough to become a black hole.
What is the Critical Mass at Which a Star Becomes a Black Hole?
The critical mass at which a star becomes a black hole is not a fixed value, as it can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the star’s composition and the amount of pressure it is under. However, in general, a star must have a mass of at least three times that of the Sun to have the potential to become a black hole.
Keep in mind that this “at least 3 times the mass of the Sun” is the star after shredding its outer layers with a supernova explosion. So, the Sun would need to be about 20 times more massive than it is to end its life as a black hole.
How will the Sun die?
The Sun will eventually exhaust its supply of hydrogen fuel in about 5 billion years and begin to die. This will let the Sun start to fuse heavier elements in the core, along with fusing hydrogen in a shell wrapped around the core.
When this happens, the core of the Sun will collapse and become hotter and denser, causing the outer layers of the Sun to expand and cool. This will cause the Sun to become a red giant. When it is a red giant, the outer layers of the Sun’s atmosphere will expand so far out into space that they’ll engulf Earth. The Earth will be inhospitable way before that happens, though.
This red giant phase will last about a billion years. Eventually, the outer layers of the Sun will be pushed off into space, leaving behind a hot core that will cool and collapse over time to become a white dwarf.
Related: Horrible Ways How Earth Could Die
Sources
- “Why the Sun Won’t Become a Black Hole” on the NASA website
- Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Touchdown Meets Columbia’s Salute [An amazing photo from the past] - February 29, 2024
- Moon Landings: All-Time List [1966-2024] - February 23, 2024
- From Orbit to Ordinary: 10 Earthly Applications of Space Technology - January 23, 2024
