Scientist Describes What Will Happen To Earth If Sun Disappears

Aside from the threat posed by massive asteroids, the death of the Sun could also cause the end of Earth. According to astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Earth would freeze within minutes following the Sun’s death or sudden disappearance.

Tyson talked about the grim scenario on his Amazon Prime show “Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains Everything.” While discussing various topics related to science, technology and astronomy, Tyson focused on a hypothetical cosmic scenario and how it would affect Earth.

The scenario Tyson chose to talk about is the Sun’s sudden disappearance or death. According to the astrophysicist, once this happens, Earth has about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to feel its effect. This short period is due to the distance of Earth from the Sun.

“If in this instant, the Sun just disappeared, what would happen?” Tyson said according to Express. “Well, we would not know anything about that fact or 8 minutes and 20 seconds.”

“We would still orbit the Sun, we would still feel its light because the Sun is eight minutes and 20 light seconds away from us,” he added.

After about 8 and a half minutes, Tyson noted that the temperature on Earth would begin to drop. Eventually, the planet would freeze and its surface would be covered in ice. Also, due to the lack of sunlight, photosynthesis will completely stop, causing all forms of plant life to die. The sudden shortage in food supply would eventually lead to the deaths of animals and other complex organisms.

Aside from this, Earth will also wander off into space since it no longer has a host star to orbit.

“8 minutes and 20 seconds later, we plunge into depths of cold and we have nothing to orbit anymore and we fly off at a tangent into interplanetary space,” Tyson said. “Life on the surface would die pretty quickly.”

“There’s no photosynthesis, which is the base of the food chain,” he continued. “So animals that eat plants, they will die, animals that eat animals eventually die.”

Depending on how much food humans have stored, they will probably be able to survive for a while after the disappearance of the Sun. However, once the food supply completely runs out, humans will eventually go extinct.