The most likely final stages of life of the Sun are iron core catastrophe, follw
ID: 637572 • Letter: T
Question
The most likely final stages of life of the Sun are
iron core catastrophe, follwed by a supernova, then collapse to a neutron star.
a red giant burning helium in a shell, followed by a planetary nebula phase, with the final remnant a neutron star.
iron core catastrophe, follwed by a supernova, then collapse to a white dwarf.
a red giant burning helium in a shell, followed by a planetary nebula phase, with the final remnant a white dwarf.
iron core catastrophe, followed by a supernova, then collapse to a black hole.
iron core catastrophe, follwed by a supernova, then collapse to a neutron star.
a red giant burning helium in a shell, followed by a planetary nebula phase, with the final remnant a neutron star.
iron core catastrophe, follwed by a supernova, then collapse to a white dwarf.
a red giant burning helium in a shell, followed by a planetary nebula phase, with the final remnant a white dwarf.
iron core catastrophe, followed by a supernova, then collapse to a black hole.
Explanation / Answer
Answer: Option 4: a red giant burning helium in a shell, followed by a planetary nebula phase, with the final remnant a white dwarf.
The Sun at its end will grow out into a red giant ball and will run out of its fuel. Then it will go through a planetary nebula phase where it will give out a cloud of ionized gas and finally it will become a white dwarf that will slowly cool off.
Understand that to become black holes, the star that undergoes extinction will have to be massive. In the context of the space, the sun, even though powerful to us, is not massive enough to form a black hole. A Neutron star will also not be an expected answer since the density of the star undergoing supernova would need to be massive and hence it is unlikely that the sun will become a neutron star at the end of its life or even have a supernova explosion in the first place.