Changes during Decades to Millennia: Further Questions
1. The Ring Nebula is an example of what is expected to happen
to our Sun in 5 Billion years.
If this were the Sun, would the Earth be inside or outside the
ring of expanding gas?
How long after the beginning of the planetary nebula will the
gas ring reach the Earth?
What do you think will happen to the Earth when the Sun dies?
2. The closest star to Earth that is very massive and in its final
stages of life (close to going supernova) is Betelgeuse, about
30,000,000 AU away from Earth. If the remnant of a Betelgeuse
supernova were the size of the Crab, would the Earth be within
the visible remnant?