Some stars, especially the massive ones, end their lives by collapsing into black holes. This happens when they run out of fuel in their cores and can no longer resist the pull of gravity. The star collapses under its own weight, forming a black hole—a region in space with gravity so intense that not even light can escape. This process marks the end of a star's life, but not all stars follow this path. Our Sun, for example, is not massive enough to become a black hole. So, there's no need to worry about it turning into one. Whatever happens to the Sun will occur over billions of years, long after humans are gone. Stars go through a life cycle. They begin as massive gas clouds that collapse under gravity, forming a new star. Inside the star, hydrogen atoms fuse to create helium, releasing energy in the form of light. This process creates outward pressure that balances the inward pull of gravity, keeping the star stable and spherical. As a star ages, it burns through its hydrogen fuel. Once the hydrogen is gone, the star begins fusing helium into heavier elements like carbon and oxygen. Eventually, the core is filled with iron, and since fusing iron requires energy, the star can no longer produce the outward pressure needed to balance gravity. The core collapses rapidly, causing a massive explosion known as a supernova. This explosion scatters heavy elements into space, while the remaining core becomes a dead star. Depending on the original mass of the star, this core can become a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. Our Sun, being relatively small, will not become a black hole when it dies. Instead, it will shed its outer layers and collapse into a white dwarf, about the size of Earth. It will continue to glow for a while, but eventually cool down into a dark object known as a black dwarf. In about 1 billion years, the Sun will become hotter and brighter, making Earth too hot to sustain life. In about 5 billion years, the Sun will enter the red giant phase, expanding so much that it could potentially engulf Earth. However, humans are unlikely to be around to witness this event. If we imagine Earth's history as a single day, all of human history has occurred in just the last six seconds. There are still 26 hours left before the Sun becomes a red giant. If the Sun were to suddenly turn into a black hole, it would not immediately threaten Earth. The gravitational pull would remain the same, and only objects extremely close to the black hole would be affected. Mercury, the closest planet, is about 36 million miles from the Sun, so there is no immediate danger from such a transformation, even if it were to happen today.