Posted on 09/12/2007 7:05:46 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Astronomers have spotted a planet that has survived the massive ballooning of its parent star, providing the first optimistic evidence for the long-term survival of Earth.
The discovery, detailed in the Sept. 13 issue of the journal Nature, could motivate other scientists to look for similar red giant survivors. That in turn could eventually lead to an answer to one of astronomers' favorite questions: Will Earth survive the sun's swelling when it goes through its own red giant phase in a few billion years?
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
And even a definitive answer would do what for us?
Oh, for cryin' out loud, the sun is projected to go red giant in what, 4 billion years? How friggin' dead am I gonna be by then? What an utterly STOOPID premise for an article.
That is indeed great news. Our planet might survive a fireball that would turn it into a cinder, but survive. I’m not sure I want to wait around for it.
On the other hand this is a big relief to the billions of Hindus and Buddhists who expect to still be around at the time!
And they wonder why they’ve been laughed at and had spitballs thrown at them throughout their lives... ;-)
Because of this, life on Earth probably only has another billion years or so, tops.
It's true that a molten rock may remain where the Earth once was immediately after the Sun goes through its red giant phase, but that rock will be totally unsuitable for any conceivable kind of life.
Or so I've heard.
Sun lifecycle:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sun_Life.png
The Once and Future Sun:
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Lectures/vistas97.html
Does the sun have enough mass to go nova?
Absolutely it does. It doesn’t have enough to go supernova though.
Scientists have determined that the sun will burn out in roughly 150 million years. This means that the Kansas DOT will have to finish construction on I-35 in the dark...
Mark
When I took introductory astronomy back in the middle ages, they taught us that the Sun would "go nova" someday; i.e., blow off its outer layers and become a red giant. The whole process was referred to as "going nova." To an outside observer it will look like a new star (nova stella) has appeared in the sky.
But now most references on the web say a nova is white dwarf feeding on its red giant companion star. The gas flowing onto the surface of the white dwarf is hot enough that you actually get a massive nuclear explosion, or explosions, on the dwarf's surface. It's so bright it appears in the sky as a new star, but fades quickly until the next batch of gas explodes (Wow, this is something they never taught us).
Obviously, this will not happen to the sun because it doesn't have a companion, much less a white dwarf companion.
Thanks for the question (and the answer, Filo). You prompted me to go out and learn something new today! :-)
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Yes, but will there be time to finish the Big Dig in Boston?
Whether the earth ends in 150 million years, 1 billion, or 4 billion it won’t matter to us as the average life span of a species is only about 5 million years.
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