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View Full Version : The Sun Will Vaporise The Earth....



Phantom Blooper
02-29-08, 04:20 PM
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/media/media672.shtml

New calculations by University of Sussex astronomers predict that the Earth will be swallowed up by the Sun in about 7.6 billion years unless the Earth's orbit can be altered.
Dr Robert Smith, Emeritus Reader in Astronomy, said his team previously calculated that the Earth would escape ultimate destruction, although be battered and burnt to a cinder. But this did not take into account the effect of the drag caused by the outer atmosphere of the dying Sun.
He says: "We showed previously that, as the Sun expanded, it would lose mass in the form of a strong wind, much more powerful than the current solar wind. This would reduce the gravitational pull of the Sun on the Earth, allowing the Earth's orbit to move outwards, ahead of the expanding Sun.
"If that were the only effect the Earth would indeed escape final destruction. However, the tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun extends a long way beyond its visible surface, and it turns out the Earth would actually be orbiting within these very low density outer layers. The drag caused by this low-density gas is enough to cause the Earth to drift inwards, and finally to be captured and vaporised by the Sun."
The new paper was written in collaboration with Dr Klaus-Peter Schroeder, previously at Sussex, who is now in the Astronomy Department of the University of Guanajuato in Mexico.
Life on Earth will have disappeared long before 7.6 billion years, however. Scientists have shown that the Sun's slow expansion will cause the temperature at the surface of the Earth to rise. Oceans will evaporate, and the atmosphere will become laden with water vapour, which (like carbon dioxide) is a very effective greenhouse gas. Eventually, the oceans will boil dry and the water vapour will escape into space. In a billion years from now the Earth will be a very hot, dry and uninhabitable ball.
Can anything be done to prevent this fate? Professor Smith points to a remarkable scheme proposed by a team at Santa Cruz University, who suggest harnessing the gravitational effects of a close passage by a large asteroid to "nudge" the Earth's orbit gradually outwards away from the encroaching Sun. A suitable passage every 6000 years or so would be enough to keep the Earth out of trouble and allow life to survive for at least 5 billion years, and possibly even to survive the Sun's red giant phase.
"This sounds like science fiction," says Professor Smith. "But it seems that the energy requirements are just about possible and the technology could be developed over the next few centuries." However, it is a high-risk strategy - a slight miscalculation, and the asteroid could actually hit the Earth, with catastrophic consequences. "A safer solution may be to build a fleet of interplanetary 'life rafts' that could manoeuvre themselves always out of reach of the Sun, but close enough to use its energy," he adds.


DO YOU THINK WE HAVE TIME TO DO ANYTHING?:beer:

bigdog43701
02-29-08, 04:25 PM
damn...don't think i'll be able to sleep tonight worring about that!

Osotogary
02-29-08, 05:17 PM
That's it...no more solar energy panels!

FistFu68
02-29-08, 06:13 PM
:evilgrin: THE ALMIGHTY'S CALENDER IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN MAN'S :evilgrin:

sparkie
02-29-08, 06:43 PM
Some folks can worry about the Sun, I'll keep my trust in the Son.

kaboom1371
02-29-08, 06:49 PM
dang life is short! Better live it up....

bootlace15
02-29-08, 07:18 PM
Oh Sh!t,no more good eggs for breakfast........... UP

bootlace15 out

mike christy
02-29-08, 08:45 PM
DO YOU THINK WE HAVE TIME TO DO ANYTHING?:beer:


:beer: :beer: Sounds like a good plan to me Phantom

and this is for Fist and Sparkie..

May the Lord keep you in His hand
And never close His fist too tight.

sparkie
02-29-08, 08:48 PM
He would not, nor loose us.

mrandmrspoot
03-01-08, 02:30 PM
7 billion years eh? By then reality as we know will have ceased to exist and emissions of unknown light will be bouncing between two television sets the size of the milky way. Think about that one.

Robert Browell
03-01-08, 06:40 PM
:evilgrin: I plan on saddlin'up,and movin'out 'for that happens!:yes: S'pose I got time ta stuff my seabag???!!!:usmc:

FistFu68
03-01-08, 07:06 PM
:usmc: THAT'S GONNA BE 1-HELL'UVA MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY#7 BILLIONITH YEAR:usmc: SEMPER~SUN~SEMPER~ALMIGHTY~OOHRAH SPACE MARINES:usmc:

yellowwing
03-01-08, 07:26 PM
Heck, we can can already vaporize parts of it! :banana:

testforecho2112
03-01-08, 07:33 PM
What the hell am I supposed to do with all this icecream??

249gunner
03-01-08, 07:36 PM
If it was 6 billion years I'd be worried.

OLE SARG
03-01-08, 08:48 PM
Don't worry, our politicians will do something to screw that up TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEMPER FI,

montana
03-02-08, 06:31 AM
??? 7 billion????... how much is that in beer?

Marine84
03-02-08, 06:41 AM
I hope they make enough Zoloft!

OMG! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

mcvet57103
03-30-08, 03:11 PM
Damn! I was planning a BBQ on that day! Looks like hand-cranked icecream is out of the question to! Maybe I can still get a nice sun tan though.

sparkie
03-30-08, 04:54 PM
I'm stokin ice for my beer,,,, hate warm beer.

crate78
03-30-08, 07:18 PM
Has anyone notified Al Gore?

mcvet57103
03-30-08, 07:31 PM
I need to sell my snowmobile! Anybody need one?

yellowwing
03-31-08, 09:50 AM
Has anyone notified Al Gore?
He's on it already!Gore unveils $300m climate ads (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/31/algore.uselections08.climate)That's a of of ice and solar-powered fans. :banana: