Two suns are going to SMASH into each other and create a beautiful new star in the sky – and here’s how to watch
If the red nova occurs in May 2022 it will be the first time scientists have accurately predicted the creation of a new star
TWO stars in a galaxy far, far away will collide, merge and then explode in a fantastic ruby-red light show which will be visible from Earth.
That’s according to astronomer Larry Molnar, who has been studying the stars in system KIC 9832227 since 2013.
Nobody has ever accurately predicted a star explosion of this kind before, but Mohar is convinced we will see the rare phenomenon within five years’ time, "give or take a year".
During the head-on smash, the suns will get 100,000 times brighter as they collide and will appear like one bright twinkler in May 2022, .
The crash will be so violent stargazers won’t need a telescope to spot it across the UK.
It will appear in the constellation Cygnus, adding a star to the Northern Cross star pattern.
"It’s a one-in-a-million chance that you can predict an explosion. It’s never been done before," Molnar said.
But after watching the star system for three years, it’s become clear his hypothesis is “progressing from theory to reality” as the stars – which orbit each other – appear to be getting closer to each other.
The collision provides a chilling insight into the life-and-death of all stars, suns and planets in the galaxy.
Earth itself is set for a similarly hellish end as the Sun is predicted to munch the planet whole in several billion years.
Humanity will be burned alive when the sun swells to 100 times its size, scientists warned.
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Mohar's predictions are featured in the , which details his three-year research project.
But he thinks astronomers should use the prediction to work out exactly what causes the explosion and could unlock the secrets of our solar system.
He said: "Bottom line is we really think our merging star hypothesis should be taken seriously right now and we should be using the next few years to study this intensely so that if it does blow up we will know what led to that explosion."
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