# If the sun burned out tomorrow?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 16, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536 "2003-11-16T10:41:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CrazyFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyFoo)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/1 "2003-11-16T10:41:46Z")
How long could we survive if the sun ran out of fuel tomorrow?
Could some of us last 6 months? A year? How long would it take before everything on Earth was dead?
Thanks
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### Author:  [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/2 "2003-11-16T12:12:12Z")
My WAG is 8.3 mnutes.
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/3 "2003-11-16T12:22:41Z")
[The Sun suddenly “turns off”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=220205&highlight=orbit+and+life)
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### Author:  [@Sergio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sergio)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/4 "2003-11-16T12:31:04Z")
Before the Sun burns out it will pass by a red giant stage that will wipe out the Earth.
Supposing that the Sun could simply quit shedding energy on us, the plants and the green algae would die by lack of UV light for photosyntesis, not only breaking the food chain, but no more producing oxigen.
I think that nuclear plants could provide energy for heat and for artificially illuminate cultures, used for food and for producin oxigen.
The problem is that we would need to do this in closed environments. The quantity of oxigen produced would be insufficient for the whole planet.
If we could produce these environments in short time, I think a few million people and animals could survive indefinitely.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/5 "2003-11-16T17:17:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by CrazyFoo \*
> \*\*How long could we survive if the sun ran out of fuel tomorrow?
> Could some of us last 6 months? A year? How long would it take before everything on Earth was dead? \*\*
It wouldn’t take too long.
In theory, you could live forever if you have enough money and you knew it was coming. Sergio is right: build yourself a huge shelter underground with atmospheric and water filters, strong enough to resist more pressume when the atmosphere freezes, with nuclear generators for power and lots of canned food in storage plus the facility to grow more. You’d need billions of dollars and a lot of advance warning, though.
Without all that I imagine you could keep yourself alive for a few months at least. But almost all multi-cellular life on earth would certainly be dead within a week, I’d say, and the best-hidden and sheltered microbes wouldn’t last much longer. It would get REALLY cold.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/6 "2003-11-16T19:06:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> and the best-hidden and sheltered microbes wouldn’t last much longer.
This, at least, I’ll dispute. Last I heard, the trench ecosystems were not dependant on the Sun for anything. This doesn’t do much good for humans, of course, but life would go on.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/7 "2003-11-16T20:15:59Z")
[http://www.y5b.com/](http://www.y5b.com/)
Y5B… the place in time where the sun don’t shine.
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### Author:  [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-sun-burned-out-tomorrow/213536/8 "2003-11-16T21:49:20Z")
Wouldn’t Y5G make more sense? 😉