Things that are a bit too soon to worry about

OK guys, I know you're all worried about when doomsday will come.

According to a new study from University of California at Santa Cruz, the Earth will be vaporized in 7.6 billion years unless we can find some creative way to alter our orbit.

But considering the world's reaction to global warming, I doubt anybody will seriously think about this until oh, 7.6 billion years from now - if there's an anybody left to think about it.

This isn't really a stupid study, it's actually pretty cool space science. Previously scientists thought the Earth would be battered but not vaporized when the sun burned out - but the study authors say that drag from the atmosphere from the dying sun will actually make the process much more nasty.

Here's what Robert Smith, Emeritus Reader in Astronomy, whatever that is, said in a story on Science Daily about the study:

"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," Smith said. "The drag caused by this low-density gas is enough to cause the Earth to drift inwards, and finally to be captured and vaporized by the Sun.”

His solutions, in the story are also pretty interesting:

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.

Here's the full link:

Sun Will Vaporize Earth Unless We Can Change Our Orbit

Cheers,
-SueVo