"All these worlds are yours except Europa, do not attempt to land there."
Posted on 01/06/2017 9:14:20 PM PST by BenLurkin
A team of astronomers is making a bold forecast: A binary star found in the summer constellation Cygnus the swan will burst into a red nova sometime in 2022.
When the two stars in the binary system crash into one another, they will create a brick-red beacon so bright that sky gazers will see it with the naked eye, Larry Molnar of Calvin College said Friday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Grapevine, Tex.
As the constellation Cygnus glides gracefully along the Milky Way every late spring and summer, the cosmic bird’s left wing houses a faint binary star called KIC 9832227. The two stars spinning around one another are merging, on a path to an explosion that will result in a red nova, said Molnar and his colleagues.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
My mother had a 72 Chevy Nova with a professional racing engine in it (by mistake). She made “The little old lady from Pasadena” seem like she was on a kiddie car.
A new bright star in 5 years? Does Taylor Swift have a younger, talented sister? That I would like to see.
Christmas star...been there, done that. Wonder if this signals Christ’s second return.
Ya’ rarely ever see any Nova’s anymore. They used to be everywhere. We had a red Nova wagon.
WaPo? I don’t believe it.
Will the new star be visible from NA during daylight hours? I find night-time viewing inconvenient. ;)
The binary star KIC 9832227 is about 1800 light years away.
Scientific literature cites 50 to 100 light years as the closest safe distance between Earth and a supernova.
Yup. Cygnus is also called “The Northern Cross’’. The large bright star at it’s tip is called Deneb. It’s one of the most massive stars in the universe.
5 years? Seems like an awfully precise prediction in terms of ‘galactic time’. After reading it looks like they are basing it on orbital calculations, so maybe they have a high degree of confidence? Still, the effects of two stars merging would seem a little bit difficult to predict. But then it Wapo, so they probably are extrapolating from the most hysterical prediction of a range of possibilities.
Some who did not fight
Brought tales of old to light
My Rocinante sailed by night
On her final flight
To the heart of Cygnus’ fearsome force
We set our course.
Spiraled through that timeless space
To this immortal place
freeerptoo: Get back to me in 5 years and we shall see.
Otherwise, it could be one helluva stellar show. Dibs on the popcorn!
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