THE next time you see the sunrise, take a moment.
That big ball of nuclear fire lighting up your morning sky is not just sitting there politely waiting for you to make coffee.
It’s racing around the Milky Way at an eye-watering 828,000 km/h, dragging Earth and the rest of the solar system along for the ride.
But here’s the kicker: the Sun only has about 22 more laps left before it runs out of fuel.
Astronomers tell us the Sun takes roughly 225 million years to complete one orbit around the Milky Way’s centre.
That’s one galactic “year.”
It’s done about 20 of these laps since the dinosaurs strolled around, thinking they had all the time in the world.
In reality, the Sun is middle-aged, halfway through its life, and on the clock.
Ancient myths and beliefs abound.
Ancient Egyptians saw the Sun as Ra, source of life and order, whose daily journey across the sky symbolised rebirth.
The Greeks linked the Sun to Apollo, God of truth and knowledge, believing its light revealed all things.
In India, Surya was honoured in rituals for health and prosperity.
The Incas worshipped Inti, believing sunlight made crops grow and ensured the empire’s strength.
Even Stonehenge was aligned with the solstice sunrise, showing how early people saw the Sun as a celestial clock guiding seasons, survival, and sacred ceremonies.
Right now, deep in its core, the Sun is fusing hydrogen into helium, turning mass into energy with astonishing efficiency. Every second, it releases more energy than humanity has produced in all of history.
Yet in about five billion years, that fuel will run out.
And when it does? Things will get messy.
The Sun will swell so big it might swallow Mercury, Venus, and yes – Earth.
Our oceans will boil away long before that, so don’t bother planning your great-great-great-times-a-million grandkids’ summer holidays.
After this fiery tantrum, the Sun will shed its outer layers, leaving behind a glowing ember called a white dwarf, a lonely cosmic ghost slowly cooling for trillions of years.
Now, before you start panicking about sunscreen strength in five billion years, here’s the thing: in the cosmic scheme, this is normal.
Stars live, shine, and die in spectacular fashion all over the universe.
We just happen to live next to one stable enough to let life flourish for billions of years without blowing its top. How lucky is that?
We take the Sun for granted, like Wi-Fi, oxygen, and that friend who always remembers your birthday.
Without it, there’s no warmth, no light, no photosynthesis, no us.
Yet it spins through space on this enormous galactic racetrack, counting down its final 22 laps, while we measure time in Netflix seasons and election cycles.
Of course, there are dangers.
A wandering black hole could stray too close.
A nearby supernova could blast us with radiation.
Space is not exactly ‘Occupational Safety and Health’ approved. But so far, the Sun’s been a model of stability in a very unruly galaxy.
So tomorrow morning, when sunlight spills across your backyard or glints off your neighbour’s windows, remember, you’re basking in the glow of a star on a five-billion-year road trip, with only 22 orbits left before its grand finale.
Kinda makes you want to wear sunscreen, doesn’t it?
More stories: davidreneke.com.
By David RENEKE
Astronomer
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