You can’t see them now,
but in five years, two enormous stars will collide, intensifying their
collective brightness by a factor of 10,000 and instantly becoming one of the
brightest stars in the sky. We’ll be able to see the explosion happen before
our very eyes, says astronomer Larry Molnar, who made the groundbreaking
(or rather sky-shattering) prediction at the American Astronomical Society’s
meeting in Grapevine, Texas.
Of course, we’re talking
about stars that exist about 1,800 light years away from us. The explosion
happened years ago, but the resulting surge of light will finally reach us
in 2022—give or take a year—says Molnar. If his prediction is correct, we’ll be
able to see the massive star become increasingly bright over the course of a
few months, effectively allowing us to watch the merge happen in real time.
It’ll certainly be mesmerizing for us to watch, but for astronomers, it could
provide major insight into how stars develop over time.
According to Vox, this is the first time in history a scientist has
predicted the collision of two stars that orbit each other. Seeing the
aftermath of similar events has clued researchers in to how these events take
place, but never have they anticipated a developing stellar collision from our
earthbound perspective. Molnar and his team of researchers pegged one binary
star system for collision after noticing its orbit speed growing faster and
faster over the course of two years.
To give you a slightly
better idea of what to expect, one of the stars in this system is 40 percent
larger than our sun, while its companion star is a third of the size. The
larger star will essentially absorb the smaller one, creating one especially
bright star to light up our night sky. While there are still some unknowns
concerning this astronomical union, one thing is for certain: The Spice Girls’
“2 Become
1” will serve as the theme song, for obvious reasons.
To see a digital imagining
of what two massive stars colliding might look like, check out NASA’s video
below. To see it in real life, mark your calendars for nonstop stargazing in
2022.
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