SOLAR SYSTEM
Above: The white dwarf star Sirius B compared to Earth
For the last 4.5 billion years the Sun has provided warmth and light to Earth, thanks to a constant chain of nuclear reactions in its core. But what will happen to our planet, and the rest of our Solar System, when the Sun runs out of its nuclear fuel? In about 8 billion years the Sun will swell 200-times larger than its current size, engulfing most of the inner Solar System - Mercury, Venus and possibly Earth - and briefly baking the outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.