When will the world end? - Page 4

Not every dying star Supernova's, like kr1250 said only stars with a relatively huge mass will. Our sun is a small star and it will die but not supernova. When it does die, we will to.

^ Read up on VY Canis Majoris.

This star is so large its estimated to be between 1500 and 2000 times the radius of the sun. Its thought to be the largest star known.

Thats means if the Canis Majoris were placed at the centre of our system, its outer atmosphere would extend out to the orbit of saturn.

Thats pretty big.

Also, read up on "Eta Carinae", my favourite star system. It isnt as large as some of the most massive stars, however one component is believed to be in its final moments of stellar life and it is well big enough for an impressive supernova. (Though this could still be in tens of thousands of years... or tomorow). It would look absolutely incredible if it did go within our lifetimes.

Infact the stars aparent shape is so distorted and vieled by the twin lobed shaped shells of gas it is ejecting that it looks like no other star i have seen. Astronomers are not even 100% certain wither the system contains more than the two stars which have been confirmed.

Yeah that is true Dragoon, there is a lot of conjecture about Canis Majoris overall size.

The latest estimates i heard put its minimum radii at 1500 Sr. but admitantly its been a while since i read up on any of this. AND it bloody changes every year.

TBH part of me just hopes it makes the 2000Sr limit :-D

^ Yeah that system always amazes me. It looks phenomenal.

Its one of two stars which could potentially go supernova in our lifetimes. More study is needed but due to temperature and size analysis Betelgeuse is believed to be close to the end of its life aswell.

And yeah, Eta Carinae is indeed big enough for a hypernova. If any of these stars erupted during our lifetimes it would look unbeleavable. It would be like a mini sun visible during the day for a number of weeks. And remember, it is theorised that any one galaxy will see a supernova at least once per hundred years. Its been over 200 since the last substantial one in the Milky Way. We are long overdue. None of these two, and indeed no supernova ready stars are close enough to be dangerous though.

If you look at the constillation of Orion which most people can recognise and look towards its upper left hand side (making this Orions right shoulder) you can easily see betelgeuse from the northern hemisphere. It is a very blue-ish star compared to its white neighbours.

Eta Carinae resides in the southern sky but is invisible to the naked eye. Right now. Due to its phase of evolution the star is in a cyclic struggle between nuclear pressure and gravity. This means that every few years the star brightens to one of the brightest stars in the sky as it ferosciously consumes fuel and expands, then fades back behind its nebula as it spits off shells of gas and contracts. Some astronomers believe it will again brighten to a -1 star in teh next few years. Making it the brightest in the sky temporarily before again "dissapearing". Amazing.

quote Matten08

Before it ends, can't we just move to another earth...

I never know if comments like this are jokes or not.

Its probably technically possible, but incredibly, almost indescribably difficult. We have to find "another earth" first, and thats just the start of the mountain of problems to overcome before we are able to get there as a species, if it is even possible.

quote Matten08

quote KR_1250

quote Matten08

Before it ends, can't we just move to another earth...

I never know if comments like this are jokes or not.

Its probably technically possible, but incredibly, almost indescribably difficult. We have to find "another earth" first, and thats just the start of the mountain of problems to overcome before we are able to get there as a species, if it is even possible.

Well im moving so see ya's!

LOL, bon voyage ! Send us a postcard ;-)

Eventually but slowly, not in 2012.

Where did we get all this stuff about the world ending because of the calendar ending from... it's exactly the same as saying that the world will end on December 31st because that's when all of our calendar ends. The Mayan's calendar is just much more long-term than ours, and means we're gonna die when it ends just as much as our Gregorian Calendar does. Anyway, it's much more likely that the human race will end way before the earth itself does.