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#1 2007-10-27 14:39:38

Terraformer
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From: The Fortunate Isles
Registered: 2007-08-27
Posts: 3,856
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Re: Earth Death

If you really want to take a 'scientific' view on when the earth dies, most say when the sun explodes in 5,000,000,000 years. That's wrong. It will die in about 4,000,000,000 years as Alpha Centauri explodes in a spectaclular Double Supernova.


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#2 2007-10-27 20:57:39

Commodore
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From: Upstate NY, USA
Registered: 2004-07-25
Posts: 1,021

Re: Earth Death

If by death you mean devoid of life as we know it, it will probably be well before that, thanks to the Moon. As it continues to drift away the Earths axis will fluctuate wildly, killing anything dependent on a stable climate, and lengthening the day. Not long after that the lack of internal friction from tidal forces will reduce the spinning of the Earths core, greatly weakening the magnetosphere, and causing the atmosphere to be blasted away. We end up as a combination of Mars and Mercury.

Whats left will be vaporized as the Sun goes red giant. I don't know if Alpha Centauri going nova can cause that kind of physical destruction. But it certainly will provide an ample dose of gamma radiation.


"Yes, I was going to give this astronaut selection my best shot, I was determined when the NASA proctologist looked up my ass, he would see pipes so dazzling he would ask the nurse to get his sunglasses."
---Shuttle Astronaut Mike Mullane

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#3 2007-10-28 07:38:59

Tom Kalbfus
Banned
Registered: 2006-08-16
Posts: 4,401

Re: Earth Death

If by death you mean devoid of life as we know it, it will probably be well before that, thanks to the Moon. As it continues to drift away the Earths axis will fluctuate wildly, killing anything dependent on a stable climate, and lengthening the day. Not long after that the lack of internal friction from tidal forces will reduce the spinning of the Earths core, greatly weakening the magnetosphere, and causing the atmosphere to be blasted away. We end up as a combination of Mars and Mercury.

Whats left will be vaporized as the Sun goes red giant. I don't know if Alpha Centauri going nova can cause that kind of physical destruction. But it certainly will provide an ample dose of gamma radiation.

We don't orbit Alpha Centauri. Also Alpha Centauri A will never go supernova as it doesn't have enough mass to fuse its core elements down to iron, and without that, its core won't collapse into a neutron star, and their won't be a rebound explosion called a supernova. Instead Alpha Centauri will expand into a red giant just like our Sun will, then it will slowly contract and become a white dwarf cooling into a black dwarf. Even if it stayed within 4.4 light years of us, which it won't, its red giant stage wouldn't be luminous enough to affect us. Alpha Centauri also moves independently of us, it will be in another part of the galaxy in 4 billion years.

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#4 2007-10-29 09:55:35

SEOVivian
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From: chile
Registered: 2007-10-29
Posts: 2

Re: Earth Death

i feel so relief to know that earht death is going to be soooo far away, hehehe. You know 'cause most people says is going to be very very soon.


Vivicita
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