---
title: "In Its Dying Gasp, Our Sun Will Obliterate the Asteroid Belt"
description: "The asteroid belt will get turned into dust when, as the Sun is finally dying, it will get incredibly bright, and destroy ithe entire asteroid belt. Fun!"
date: "2020-02-13"
modified: "2020-02-13"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sun-dying-obliterate-destruction-asteroid-belt"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "asteroid belt"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
  - "the sun"
---

# In Its Dying Gasp, Our Sun Will Obliterate the Asteroid Belt

![The asteroid belt will get turned into dust when, as the Sun is finally dying, it will get incredibly bright, and destroy ithe entire asteroid belt. Fun!](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sun-bright-obliterate-asteroid-belt.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Angry Sun

Before it finally goes out, scientists say, our Sun will abruptly become so bright, it'll grind the entire asteroid belt down into dust — obliterating it with the ferociously bright light of a dying star.

"Not only will our own asteroid belt be destroyed, but it will be done quickly and violently," [said University of Warwick researcher Dimitri Veras](<https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/supercharged_light_pulverises>), a lead author of the new research. "And due solely to the light from our Sun.”

## Star Power

Veras' [new paper](<https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/492/2/2437/5682494?redirectedFrom=fulltext>) in the prestigious journal *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*, spotted [by *ScienceAlert*](<https://www.sciencealert.com/just-before-our-sun-dies-its-light-will-pulverise-the-asteroid-belt>), explores the fate of the solar system.

The effect won't be pronounced enough to disintegrate planets — but it will herald the end for our dying system.

Fortunately, he says, we have about six billion years to prepare.

**READ MORE:** [ Just Before Our Sun Dies, Its Light Will Shatter The Asteroid Belt to Dust](<https://www.sciencealert.com/just-before-our-sun-dies-its-light-will-pulverise-the-asteroid-belt>) \[*ScienceAlert*\]

**More on the asteroid belt:** [*Scientists Detect the Smallest Dwarf Planet in Our Solar System*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-detect-smallest-dwarf-planet-solar-system>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)