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Astronomers Say Dying Sun Will Engulf Earth

Posted by kdawson on from the fire-next-time dept.

iamlucky13 writes "A minor academic debate among astronomers is the final fate of the earth. As the sun ages and enters the red giant stage of its life, it will heat up, making the earth inhospitable. It will also expand, driven by helium fusion so that its outer layers reach past the earth's current orbit. Previously it had been believed that the sun would lose enough mass to allow earth to escape to a more distant orbit, lifeless but intact. However, new calculations, which take into account tidal forces and drag from mass shed by the sun, suggest that the earth will have sufficiently slowed in that time to be dragged down to its utter destruction in 7.6 billion years. "

12 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. Global Warming by ChrisGilliard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow...talk about global warming!

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    No Sigs!
  2. Last post by Harmonious+Botch · · Score: 4, Funny

    Heck, 7.6 billion years is ok by me; Chun the unavoidable will have been at my elbow by then.

    1. Re:Last post by SL+Baur · · Score: 4, Funny

      Heck, 7.6 billion years is ok by me I don't know. It'll probably happen a few months before Duke Nukem Forever is released. Dang, I was wishing I could play that game.
  3. Interesting Note by bendodge · · Score: 5, Funny

    But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (Wow! All my karma just went sailing past!)
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    The government can't save you.
  4. Shit. by jerryasher · · Score: 5, Funny

    And to find this out the day I discover my paxil/zoloft/venlafaxine does nothing.

    Beer me.

  5. Message from 100 Years into Future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmmm... a 7 digit user id... you must be old here.

  6. Re:Gravity Assist by Volante3192 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or just build lots of robots and have them all vent out their exhaust pipes in the same direction at the same time.

  7. At some point by michaelmalak · · Score: 3, Funny

    After 7.6 billion years, it's time to move out of mom's basement.

  8. No problem by PPH · · Score: 3, Funny

    By that time, mankind will be sufficiently advanced to relocate to an outer planet.....like Pluto.

    What? Pluto isn't a planet anymore??

    Oh No! We're doomed!!

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    Have gnu, will travel.
  9. Re:Ah well... by kestasjk · · Score: 3, Funny

    If we do decide to revive the sun by sending a payload of quantum sparkles, I suggest not sending a religious nut-job who is obsessed with sunlight.

    My 2c.

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    // MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
  10. Re:I don't believe it. by icedcool · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nonsense. All testing is done by capable and brilliant scientists, now back to my experiment.

    Uh, it's probably not a problem, probably, but I'm showing a small discrepancy in... well, no, it's well within acceptable bounds again. Sustaining sequence.

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    Most people aren't thought about after they're gone. "I wonder where Rob got the plutonium" is better than most get.
  11. Re:Ah well... by KlaymenDK · · Score: 5, Funny

    My 2c. You can't go faster than 1c.

    (/stupid misunderstanding nitpick)
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    "Good news, everyone!"