Here's What Would Happen If The Sun Suddenly Exploded
We all think about the sun from time to time. While lying back, soaking up its blissful rays on a hot summer day, it's only natural to look up in wonder. NASA reports that the sun is the single most important contributor to life on Earth. It warms the seas to just the right temperature for human beings to thrive. It generates energy, supports the plants, and provides light to what would otherwise be a dark planet Earth. So, what would happen if one day it just exploded?
Despite the fact that life as we know it quite literally revolves around the sun, at the end of the day it is little more than a great, big star. As such, if it were to suddenly and abruptly explode, it would create a supernova in the sky. NASA explains that there is no larger explosion known to humanity than the supernova. When a star instantaneously explodes, the supernova effect that follows rocks the solar system with massive shockwaves and bursts of light. If this were to happen to our sun, it would certainly be a spectacle to behold. Unfortunately, you would not live to see it.
The sudden death of the sun would actually kill the entire solar system
According to renowned astrophysicist Dr. Chris Manser (via Warwick Knowledge Centre), the sun exploding suddenly would mean the end of the world. In fact, it would put an end to the solar system as we know it, leaving behind a sky full of dead, cold planets doomed to circle the atmosphere in infinite darkness. Forbes reports that an explosion of such proportions would knock the oceans clear off the face of our planet in under 10 seconds. The nightward-facing side of Earth might survive an extra minute before succumbing to the same fate.
As for the remaining lifeforms, Forbes goes on to explain that every living creature would be boiled from the inside out due to the neutrino flux associated with supernovas. These neutrinos, which are subatomic particles, would flee omnidirectionally from the dying star, redistributing about 99% of that energy into any nearby lifeforms (via All Things Neutrino), causing them to be scorched to death.