The estimated lifespan of the outer solar system has been downgraded from 100 billion years to just a few billion years, according to a study that probed “terminal instability” during the Sun’s death.
Terminal instability refers to the mechanism by which the outer planets will be destroyed: changes to the sun’s mass will change the planets orbit in asymmetrical ways, which will cause the planets to interfere with each other’s orbits, furthering and speeding up the instability.
Terminal instability refers to the mechanism by which the outer planets will be destroyed: changes to the sun’s mass will change the planets orbit in asymmetrical ways, which will cause the planets to interfere with each other’s orbits, furthering and speeding up the instability.