Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science

Earth will survive the Sun's red giant phase

But of course it will still be a bit on the toasty side:

Earth could survive a red-giant Sun

In about five billion years the Sun will run out of hydrogen fuel and swell into a red giant star over a thousand times its current volume before shrinking back into a white dwarf. No-one is quite sure whether Earth is close enough to be swallowed up by a bulging Sun or whether it can avoid a fiery death. But now an international team has spotted a planet in a distant solar system that appears to have survived its star’s red-giant phase, even though its original orbit would have been similar to Earth’s (Nature 449 189).

Full article here:

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/31123

And from the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/science/13planet.html?_r=2&ref=science&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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