Slashdot Mirror
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.
aren't they really predicting that the light from the stars colliding will reach us in 2022?
NO. They collided long, long ago, and we are only seeing the light that finally has reached us.
Msmash you are garbage and need to go.
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.
I interviewed several of the photons tomorrow and they called bullshit on your concept of zero distance.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
It's a bit late to do something about it in either case, is it not?
Between pedantic jackasses and failed comedians, the comments on /. have gone seriously downhill of late. Time to reevaluate the modding system?
Drill baby drill - on Mars