Astronomer Petrus Martens provided evidence that the Sun in ancient times was larger than at present, and lost mass quite intensively.
According to the scientist, about three billion years ago, the Sun lost about 0.0000000000075 of its mass annually, which is about three percent of its original mass. At the moment, this value is two orders of magnitude lower and is not significant for accounting for changes in the brightness of the luminary. The researcher came to such conclusions when he noticed that the Sun over time, like most stars of this kind, slows down its own rotation. According to the author, this is due to the loss of mass.
In addition, this may mean that the star was as bright in antiquity as it is now, which makes it possible to refute the paradox of a young, weak Sun. This paradox is due to the fact that four billion years ago on the surface of our planet and Mars it was impossible to have liquid water due to the lack of energy that came from the young star, which was 20-30 percent dimmer than at the moment (but only in that if the dimensions and weight remain unchanged).
A more popular and alternative explanation for the paradox of a young, weak Sun is considered to be the presence of dense atmospheres on Mars and Earth in ancient times, due to the greenhouse effect of which the conditions necessary for the presence of liquid water on the surfaces of these planets were provided.
It should be noted that earlier researchers assumed that the greenhouse effect in the earth's atmosphere could have formed in the process of asteroid bombardment. These celestial bodies, reaching a hundred kilometers in diameter, when falling to the surface of the Earth, could cause the melting of large volumes of rocks, which in turn created huge lava lakes. As these lakes cooled, they released large volumes of carbon dioxide, thus heating the atmosphere.