Everything That Happens Next
What is the future of the universe?
With some science, we can make a few predictions.
Scroll down to travel from a few decades from now to the end of the universe.
Halley's Comet will return again.
Pluto will complete its first orbit since discovery.
After travelling billions of kilometres, Voyager 1 will finally reach the Oort Cloud.
The star VY Canis Majoris will explode in a supernova.
The explosion will outshine the rest of the Milky Way.
A new Hawaiian island will surface.
Many of today's constellations will be unrecognisable.
Two of Uranus' moons will collide.
The planet can't catch a break.
The Martian moon Phobos will slowly break up.
So Mars will get its own ring.
As Mars gains a ring, Saturn will slowly lose them.
Oddly, Saturn will spend most of its life without rings.
It's just a phase.
The Moon continues gradually slowing down the Earth.
Days become 25 hours long.
Hopefully work hours don't also increase.
The last total solar eclipse happens.
Since the moon is further away, total solar eclipses will no longer be possible.
Don't forget your glasses! This is one you don't want to miss.
As the Sun becomes brighter, photosynthesis is no longer possible on Earth.
Without plant life, all animals go extinct.
And single cell organisms dominate the Earth once again.
The Sun will be 10% brighter.
The average temperature on Earth will reach 47 °C, or 116 °F.
And so the oceans will evaporate.
But on the bright side, Mars will enter the habitable zone and could provide a new home.
The Andromeda Galaxy will collide with the Milky Way.
And our new home galaxy will be called Milkdromeda.
We will gain a trillion neighbouring stars.
Anyone left will see an incredible night sky.
As the Sun becomes a red giant, it grows to 256 times its current size.
After billions of years of providing energy to the Earth, the Sun eats the Earth.
It was a good run, but the Earth was freeloading for too long.
The Sun also eats Mercury and Venus for good measure.
After the Sun's rampage, it cools down.
And becomes a white dwarf star.
Any remaining life will need to get a lot closer to stay warm.
The 50+ galaxies in the Local Group merge.
The group is back together.
Radiation leftover from the Big Bang becomes undetectable.
Making it harder for future civilizations to learn about the universe.
Red dwarf stars turn into the first ever blue dwarf stars.
The gas clouds needed to make stars are depleted.
Somewhere in the universe, the last star is born.
And soon only white dwarf, brown dwarf, and neutron stars are left.
Everything outside the Local Group is impossible to reach due to the expansion of the universe.
Even the speed of light won't be fast enough to reach distant galaxies.
White dwarf stars cool to black dwarf stars.
The universe is dark.
The only natural light comes from the occasional supernova.
Black holes are the only things remaining, and they are massive.
But even they slowly evaporate from Hawking Radiation.
In the last few seconds of a black hole's life, it will emit a burst of light.
Providing the last light in the universe.
Like a final firework show, but each firework billions of years apart.
After that the universe is basically dead, with nothing of interest happening.
But don't worry, there's plenty of time left.
If the life of the universe was a year, you're living in the first millisecond of January 1st.
So enjoy the ride.