"Yes, those odds are already pretty good."
Fang Xu sighed beside him. "Who would have thought the Sun could leave Jupiter an inheritance in its dying moments? Perhaps, countless years from now, the Solar System might even become a binary star system!"
"A binary star system..." Lü Yongchang frowned the instant he heard those words.
He stared fixedly at the enormous holographic image before him.
"No, that's not right!"
As he gazed at the enormous crimson fireball in the center of the holographic projection, a flash of inspiration struck Lü Yongchang.
"We've overlooked something!" he suddenly shouted.
"Hmm? What?" Fang Xu gave Lü Yongchang a puzzled look.
"The mass the Sun itself loses during its red giant phase!"
Excitement crept into Lü Yongchang's voice. He suddenly realized that he might finally uncover the true cause of the Sun's abnormal transformation!
"According to our previous model, the Sun would lose roughly 50% of its mass while becoming a white dwarf."
"That ejected matter would remain around it in the form of a nebula."
"But the Sun's current changes clearly don't fit that model."
The planetary nebula NGC 5307, with a white dwarf at its center
At this point, a complicated look appeared in Lü Yongchang's eyes.
It wasn't merely a mismatch-the difference was night and day!
Even setting aside the timing of the red giant phase, the extent of its expansion was wrong!
In the standard predictive model, the red giant formed by the Sun would expand as far as Mars's orbit.
Yet both the new model and his experiences in his previous life told Lü Yongchang that the Sun's helium flash would occur before its red giant form even reached Earth's orbit!
That enormous discrepancy meant a vast amount of mass-or rather, energy-had disappeared!
"Zero, use the Sun's current condition