New Study Finds Earth May Escape Sun’s Red-Giant Engulfment

Researchers led by Mats Esseldeurs of the University of Leuven and Stéphane Mathis of CEA Paris-Saclay published a study in Astronomy & Astrophysics that suggests Earth could avoid being engulfed when the Sun expands into a red giant. According to Geekspin, the paper employed updated tidal models together with recent stellar-mass-loss data and concluded that Earth may drift outward enough to escape the Sun’s expanding envelope, challenging earlier models that predicted the planet would be drawn inward. Yahoo later reported that the same authors applied revised stellar-evolution calculations, confirming that Earth’s orbit could expand while Mercury and Venus are expected to be consumed.

The New York Post added that the outcome depends on the Sun’s mass-loss rate, meaning Earth might either move outward or be pulled inward, but could still survive the red-giant phase. Together, the reports indicate a shift in scientific expectations about the long-term fate of the inner solar system.