Cosmic Event Coming Soon… Maybe – there’s always a maybe! #astronomy #stars #space #telescope
Cygnus
KIC 9832227 is a binary star in the constellation Cygnus, and it’s about to explode.
Most statements like that about cosmic events then go on to say “in a billion years” or something similar. Time is different for you and me versus the universe.
Not KIC 9832227! The two stars are:
likely to merge into a single star in the year 2022 and create an explosive event called a red nova that should be visible to the naked eye.
The stars are currently orbiting so close to one another that they’re actually touching and sharing a single atmosphere. They’re spinning faster and faster and getting closer together.
We should see KIC 9832227 brighten to a magnitude 2 (about as bright as Polaris) for about six months. The exact timing is projected to be 2022.2 ±.6. From Brian Dunn, skeptoid.com
Sigh. There’s a “maybe.” Wikipedia, those spoilsports, say this date is unlikely because of some variations in stellar movements that we don’t understand well.
It seems that I’ll find out who’s right soon enough.
