Solar system under construction

This thought struck me as reports of an object (possibly a comet) smashing into Jupiter came in.

Our solar system is evolving. It's still being built.

What is recognisable to all of us now won't be to our distant descendants (if we make it that far down the road, of course).

So what does the future hold for our nearest neighbours?

Mercury: Is doomed. Eaten up by our sun as it runs out of fuel, gets a serious case of helium indigestion and swells up into a red giant. This will all begin in around four billion years, so no need to panic!

Venus: Will suffer the same fate as Mercury. Swallowed up by the sun as it expands to 250 times its current size.

Earth: The 'death star' will be out to get us too. About a billion years from now the sun will be 10 per cent brighter, meaning it's going to get very uncomfortable indeed. From then on it's all downhill.
Our planet will become a 'hot house' as the ocean's boil away into the atmosphere, creating a runaway greenhouse effect. Earth will become a horrible place, a bit like Venus, and will no longer be able to sustain life.
As for the planet itself, latest predictions have the Earth at first trying to escape the sun, wandering out to the orbit of Mars, before slowly being reeled in by the big bad and ultimately falling in. Cremated, if you will.

Mars: If we're still around, our first port of call out of the solar system will be the red planet. As the sun warms up, the ice stored in the planet will thaw and oceans created, which will trigger the quick release of CO2 and the rebuilding of its atmosphere. It could have a 'second reawakening' and once again be suitable for life.
However, this Eden will be relatively short-lived (around half a billion years). The sun will just get too hot and the water-rich environment will start boiling.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot has only been around for 300 years or so - not bad for an atmospheric storm but it is shrinking, and will not last forever,
As the sun gets hotter, the ice crust covering Jupiter's moon Europa will melt, creating a water world. It might be a nice holiday spot for a little while before it too gets too hot.
Jupiter itself will lose some of its massive atmosphere but, like the other gas giants, will continue its journey through space after sun's demise.

Saturn: Rather sad this one. In 100 million years the lovely rings of everyone's favourite planet won't be there anymore. Slowly worn away by micro-meteorites, the material that make the rings will either be flung out into the solar system or absorbed by the planet itself.
The moon Titan, though, could be then human race's last hideout in the solar system. It's a frozen pie with all the ingredients of a very nice place to live for a time. Just add heat and it'll bake into a water-rich environment and a nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Lovely!

Uranus: The most boring planet. That's all you need to know!

Neptune: In one billion years Neptune's moon Triton will take a death dive into the planet, breaking apart and pulverising a few other smaller satellites. Out of this debris, a spectacular ring system will be created.

Solar system: In the future the Earth, the sun, and the rest of the solar system will have an entirely new home. In three billion years our own Milky Way galaxy will collide with Andromeda. We are currently about 25,000 light-years from the centre of the Milky Way. After the merger we will have been stripped outward to 100,000 light-years from the centre of the new galaxy. A nice spot in the suburbs.

Weird Science Factoid: If you unfolded your brain, it would cover an ironing board. Not a pretty image.

Join the Weird Science Facebook group here, or follow us on Twitter here or by searching for weirdsciblog.

Want to be sent the 'best' of the Weird Sci Blog every month? Then sign up for Weird News - a newsletter containing more info about the subjects we cover, plus some extra stuff that didn't make the blog. Interested? Subscribe by e-mailing wscience@me.com with the title 'count me in' and we'll do the rest.