If the sun does explode in the far future, what would make it explode?

Question

If the sun does explode in the far future, what would make it explode?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Stars are the size they are because the nuclear reactions pushing everything out and the gravity pulling everything in balance each other out. Eventually stars run out of fuel and when they do their nuclear reactions stop pushing things out and gravity will pull everything in. In big stars the gravity pulling everything in so quickly is enough force to cause one last nuclear mega-explosion (called a supernova). Our sun isn’t massive enough to cause a mega-explosion. When our sun finally runs out of nuclear fuel it will shrink to a small, dim, dense ball about the size of earth. This ball is called a white dwarf.