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Scientists Predict Star Collision Visible To The Naked Eye In 2022 (npr.org)
Scientists predict that a pair of stars in the constellation Cygnus will collide in 2022, give or take a year, creating an explosion in the night sky so bright that it will be visible to the naked eye. From a report on NPR: If it happens, it would be the first time such an event was predicted by scientists. Calvin College professor Larry Molnar and his team said in a statement that two stars are orbiting each other now and "share a common atmosphere, like two peanuts sharing a single shell." They predict those two stars, jointly called KIC 9832227, will eventually "merge and explode ... at which time the star will increase its brightness ten thousand fold becoming one of the brighter stars in the heavens for a time." That extra-bright star is called a red nova. They recently presented their research at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Grapevine, Texas.
It takes zero time for the light from the event to reach us in its frame of reference. According to the photons the event is zero distance away. So I'm not sure it makes any sense to talk about when or where the event happened.
Goddamn scientists, always predictin' shit and figurin' stuff out.
Selfish bastards, at this rate there won't be any new discoveries left for the next generation of scientists to make.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
You're begging for a "your mom is so fat" joke here, hope you're aware of that!
Or is that ``a "your mom is so fat here" joke''?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
...and naturally, slashdot is 1800 years too late on reporting the event :-/