How would swapping our sun for another affect life on earth? 

Following this question, I’m going to be comparing two different types of stars to figure out how life on Earth would change with these different stars, and find out which of them could replace the sun. 

The first star that I’m going to be analyzing is UY Scuti. It is the biggest observable star that humans could see.  

It is approximately 1700 times larger than our sun.  

According to the What If Show, we would have to put ourselves 1.5 trillion km away from this star for Earth to actually be habitable. The seasons would be extremely long as it would take around 10,000 years to complete one orbit. This would probably mean that our great grandparents, and grandchildren would be born and die in one season. (1) 

If we orbited UY Scuti as close as we did to Earth, we would be ingulfed in it because if it took the exact place on the sun, UY Scuti would reach all the way to Saturn. (1) 

If we were around the place of Neptune, we would probably turn into an omelet in seconds.  

Everything on Earth would probably die off  

The next star I’m taking a look at is a red dwarf star. The name of this star is Proxima Centauri. Even though it is the closest to the star other than the sun, it is 4.22 light years away. (2) 

Studies have also found out that this star ha

s two other planets that orbit it. However, they explained than none of these planets contain forms life  

Because this star is way smaller than our sun, I believe that the temperature of this star will also be less than our sun.

Given the two options, I would choose Proxima Centauri instead of UY Scuti because I believe life could have more time to adapt with the changes quicker than UY Scuti.  

Also, when the star does explode, it would still kill everything on Earth, but UY Scuti would create more force than 100 supernovas. So, the force of 100 stars exploding would obliterate everything nearby.  

But is there a better star than any of the one I’ve talked about? 

Researching more, I discovered that there is a type of star called K dwarf, K dwarf stars would be the most ideal star to orbit because they have longer lifespans than a yellow dwarf star which is the sun. Other factors that can be more beneficial to earth are that k dwarfs are cooler than our sun. This could lead to less wildfires during the summer and could lessen global warming. (3) 

There would be a higher percentage of life on planets that orbit K dwarfs because it fits the criteria of higher life probability. (3) 

The water would be a bit warmer than here which could help biodiversity in rainforests to be higher than it already is.

K dwarf planets would be the most ideal star to orbit be they have longer lifespans than a yellow dwarf star which is the sun. 

Other factors that can be more beneficial to earth are that k dwarfs are more cooler than our sun. This could lead to less wildfires during the summer and could lessen global warming.

In conclusion, a K dwarf star would be an ideal replacement for the sun, improving our lives followed by Proxima Centauri, then UY Scuti which should be the last star we consider replacing Earth.

Citations:

(1)Kevin and Choudhry, V. (2021) What if Earth orbited uy scuti?, What If Show. Available at: https://whatifshow.com/what-if-earth-orbited-uy-scuti/ (Accessed: 19 June 2023).

(2)Kelly Kizer Whitt, Deborah Byrd. (2021) Proxima Centauri, closest star to our sun, EarthSky. Available at: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/proxima-centauri-our-suns-nearest-neighbor/ (Accessed: 19 June 2023).