Here's a simplified breakdown of the Sun's life cycle:
1. Main Sequence: This is the current stage where the Sun fuses hydrogen into helium in its core. This stage will last for approximately 10 billion years.
2. Red Giant: As the Sun runs out of hydrogen fuel, it will start to fuse helium into heavier elements. This will cause the Sun to expand dramatically, becoming a red giant star. It will engulf Mercury, Venus, and potentially Earth.
3. Planetary Nebula: After the red giant phase, the Sun will shed its outer layers, leaving behind a hot, dense core called a white dwarf. The expelled material will form a beautiful cloud of gas and dust known as a planetary nebula.
4. White Dwarf: The white dwarf will gradually cool down over billions of years, eventually becoming a cold, dark object known as a black dwarf.
It's important to note that the Sun is not expected to become a supernova. Supernovas occur in much larger stars.
