How old is the Sun, and when will it extinguis?
25 Jul, 2025
Credit: Nasa, Getty
The Sun is around 4.6 billion years old, formed from a giant molecular cloud of gas and dust that collapsed due to gravity.
Its formation began when a region within this cloud collapsed, leading most material to concentrate in the center to form the Sun, while the rest became a spinning disk that formed the planets and other Solar System bodies.
The ignition of nuclear fusion occurred as the Sun's core became hot and dense enough, marking the Sun's transition into a true star that has powered it ever since.
The Sun is currently about halfway through its main-sequence life, fusing hydrogen into helium in its core.
In roughly 5 billion more years, the Sun will exhaust its core hydrogen and expand into a red giant, likely engulfing the inner planets.
After the red giant phase, it will shed its outer layers and become a white dwarf, a dense, slowly cooling stellar remnant.
The Sun's total life expectancy as a shining star is about 10 billion years, meaning we are presently living near the Sun's middle age.
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