Scientists make eerie discovery that could offer glimpse into how the world could end
The future doesn't look bright for our home planet
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Scientists have made an eerie discovery that could offer a glimpse into the end of the world.
From mystic prophecies to warnings from AI technology, it almost feels like the end of the world is no longer an if but a when.
While Baba Vanga's predictions for the next 3,000 years don't provide much optimism for the human race, you might be glad to hear that her forecasts for humanity's doomsday isn't until around 5079. Beyond that, according to NASA's predictions from 400,000 simulations, the US space agency claims that Earth will be uninhabitable only by the year 1,000,002,021.
However, there have been alarming reports that global warming is accelerating beyond our control. As a result, 70 percent of the population is expected to face extreme weather conditions over the next 20 years.
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Adding to the research, a team of scientists have just discovered a mysterious 'iron bar' within a nearby nebula that could offer a window into Earth's fate.
Stretching across the Ring Nebula, the ribbon of ionised iron atoms was located 2,283 light-years from Earth. Although the researchers have never seen anything like it before, they say it could be the remains of a rocky, Earth-like planet that was vaporised by a dying star.
Similar to the Sun, stars exhaust their nuclear fuel at the end of their lives and their exterior layers expand to enormous sizes.
Without sufficient gravitational strength to keep the star intact, the core eventually becomes a tiny white dwarf while the outer layers are shed to create a planetary nebula.
The new study suggests the unique structure in the Ring Nebula could reveal what Earth would look like after being disintegrated by the Sun. Comprising 20,000 clumps of dense molecular hydrogen gas, astronomers believe the ring formed around 4,000 years ago when a dying star shed its outer layers.
In the new study, scientists analysed the Ring Nebula using the Large Integral Field Unit (LIFU) on the William Herschel Telescope.
The device operates as a collection of hundreds of fibre-optic wires that allow scientists to view the different light wavelengths, or spectra, across the nebula surface.
"When we processed the data and scrolled through the images, one thing popped out as clear as anything – this previously unknown 'bar' of ionised iron atoms, in the middle of the familiar and iconic ring," said lead author Dr. Roger Wesson, of Cardiff University and University College London.
The expert explained the 'bar' matches what scientists would expect from a vaporised planet.
"We know that there are planets around many stars, and if there were planets around the star that formed the Ring Nebula, they would have vaporised when the star became a red giant,' Dr. Wesson added. "And the mass of iron in the bar is about what you'd expect from the vaporisation of a planet: if Mercury or Mars were vaporised, that would give a bit less iron than the bar in the Ring, while if Earth or Venus were vaporised, it would give a bit more."
If accurate, this strange structure could be an intriguing insight into Earth's appearance billions of years from now.
As the Sun expands and ultimately becomes a Red Giant, Earth will likely be destroyed by intense heat or shredded by powerful tidal forces, astronomers theorise.