Earth & Beyond 17 October 2014 | Page 7

planets Mercury a black dwarf) as and Venus be- its orbit decays fore deflat- Ultimately the uni- ing into a verse will continue w h i t e to d w a r f everything in it is 1.6 expand until bil- dead. All matter lion years will be so spread later. out than, in essence, About 150 nothing will remain billion years lat- and the cosmos will er, changes on the be completely emp- scale of the universe start to take place. years, when our ty, says Hanson sun runs out of gas, One As the universe ex- it starts to expand years pands, we would and consumers the what lose sight of all gal- inner planets Mer- planet quadrillion from now, remains of Earth is axies from Earth if cury and Venus be- pulled into the black we were still around fore deflating into a dwarf that is now as they are too dis- white dwarf 1.6 bil- the sun as its orbit tant for their late to lion years later decays. reach us. Further ahead from At the trillion-year In 110 trillion years this point, however, mark, stars forming, and stop all stars will have seems to be a bleak 110 died out while in a future for the uni- trillion years all of quadrillion years our verse. the stars will have planet, now a life- This is, of course, exhausted their en- less hunk of rock, just one theory for ergy outIn and 7.9 flickered will fall into what is the end of the unibillion left of the sun (now verse.