Scrub through 8 real published epochs to watch the Sun brighten, leave the main sequence, swell into a red giant, and collapse to a white dwarf, while Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars react around it.
Each stop on the slider is a real, independently published stellar-evolution milestone - not a smooth simulated aging. Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom on the scene above.
For a generic explorer covering solar-mass versus massive-star endings for any star, see the Star Lifecycle 3D Explorer. For the Sun's internal layers today, see the Sun Structure 3D Explorer.
Sun Red Giant Future 3D Explorer
Scrub 8 real published epochs of the Sun's future - from today's steady main-sequence star to a red giant swallowing Mercury and Venus, then a white dwarf - and watch Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars react at each stop.
- 8 real published epochs from today to the white-dwarf end state
- Mercury and Venus shown engulfed once the outer envelope reaches them
- Earth's fate is disclosed as genuinely disputed, not answered as fact
- Core helium flash and the horizontal-branch to asymptotic-giant-branch expansion both included
- Facts panel and an epoch table with the time-from-now for every stop
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom; move the epoch slider to jump between stops. The Sun leaves the main sequence in about 5 billion years, then engulfs Mercury and Venus within roughly 5 million years. At the red-giant-branch tip, around 7.6 billion years from now, its radius reaches roughly 100 to 200 times today's value (sources differ). Students see why Mercury and Venus are certain casualties while Earth is not; astronomy readers get both published positions on Earth's fate instead of one guess.
| Epoch | Time from now | Mercury / Venus / Earth / Mars |
|---|---|---|
| Today | 0 (Sun is about 4.6 billion years old) | visible / visible / visible / visible |
| +1 billion years | 1,000,000,000 | visible / visible / visible / visible |
| Leaves the main sequence | 5,000,000,000 | visible / visible / visible / visible |
| Rapid expansion | ~5 million years after leaving the main sequence | engulfed / engulfed / visible / visible |
| Red-giant-branch tip | ~7,600,000,000 | engulfed / engulfed / disputed / visible |
| Core helium flash | ~1.2 billion years after leaving the main sequence | engulfed / engulfed / disputed / visible |
| Horizontal branch, then AGB expansion | following the helium flash | engulfed / engulfed / disputed / visible |
| Planetary nebula and white dwarf | billions of years further on | engulfed / engulfed / disputed / visible |
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached; no scene data is sent to a server.
This is an educational approximation, not a stellar-evolution simulation: the on-screen Sun radius and color use a compressed teaching scale, never claimed to be to-scale AU or solar-radii figures. Every year figure and planet outcome above traces to a published source; where sources genuinely disagree (Earth's exact fate at the red-giant tip, and the precise red-giant-branch-tip radius), both positions are disclosed rather than one being picked as fact.
For a step-by-step walkthrough, read the Sun Red Giant Future 3D Explorer step-by-step guide. When you need session fit and limits, see when to use Sun Red Giant Future 3D Explorer. For a generic explorer covering solar-mass versus massive-star endings for any star, see the Star Lifecycle 3D Explorer. For the Sun's internal layers today, see the Sun Structure 3D Explorer. For the mass ceiling the resulting white dwarf obeys, see the White Dwarf Chandrasekhar Limit 3D Explorer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Sun Red Giant Future 3D Explorer show?
Eight real published epochs of the Sun's future, from today's steady main-sequence star through its red-giant expansion to its final white-dwarf state, with Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars reacting at each stop.
When does the Sun become a red giant?
The Sun leaves the main sequence in about 5 billion years. Its outer envelope then expands quickly, sweeping past Mercury and Venus within roughly 5 million years of that point.
Will Earth survive the Sun's red giant phase?
It is genuinely disputed. Most detailed models, including Schroder and Smith (2008), conclude Earth is engulfed because tidal drag overcomes the outward drift from solar mass loss. A newer 2025 study of Sun-like stars leaves open a chance Earth's orbit widens enough to escape. This page discloses both positions instead of picking one.
What happens to Mercury and Venus?
Both are engulfed. The Sun's outer envelope reaches and swallows Mercury, then Venus, within roughly 5 million years of the Sun leaving the main sequence.
What is the core helium flash?
A brief thermal-runaway ignition of helium into carbon in the Sun's degenerate core, happening about 1.2 billion years after the Sun leaves the main sequence. The outer layers contract and dim somewhat right after.
Is this a stellar-evolution simulation?
No. It is an educational approximation: 8 discrete, independently published milestones on a compressed teaching scale, not a continuous physics solve or a to-scale rendering.
How do I move between epochs?
Drag the epoch slider under the 3D view; the label, facts panel, and planet table update together. Drag inside the canvas to orbit, and scroll or pinch to zoom.