Here's how the Sun will end all life on Earth

The Sun isn't going to go supernova. But its demise will cause ripples of stellar devastation that'll be deadly to nearby planets

- DR KATIE MACK

A few years ago, I walked into my department's weekly coffee club and had an existential crisis about Earth's future.

To be clear, the discussion wasn't about the future of Earth, per se. We were talking about a newly published paper regarding some interesting features in the spectrum of light from a distant star-technically a 'stellar remnant', or dead star, called a white dwarf.

This white dwarf couldn't possibly have any effect on our planet and nothing in its spectrum was particularly threatening. But what that paper did show us was a glimpse of the future of our Sun and, in a particularly gruesome way, ourselves.

Let me start by reassuring you that the Sun isn't going to explode.

One of the most common misconceptions I encounter is the idea that the Sun is fated to go supernova someday, ending its life in a spectacular explosion that'll incinerate the Solar System. But from what we know of stellar evolution, that's not what the Sun's future looks like.

There are two main ways a star can go supernova.

One, called a core-collapse supernova, is when a very massive star burns through all its fusion fuel and collapses, rebounding into an extraordinarily intense explosion.

The other is when a stellar remnant, such as a white dwarf, has some unfortunate interaction with a companion star, which obliterates them both.