Scientists are predicting that by 2022 two stars will collide together creating a light show.
Calvin College astronomer, Larry Molnar, is doing something no astronomer has ever done before, predicting a star collision.
Researchers explain that the star collision will create a massive explosion. The explosion will be so bright that it will take two stars, which are current invisible without a telescope, to lighting up the night sky.
Molnar is predicting that a binary star, two stars that are orbiting each other, will merge together. In turn, the two stars will explode in 2022, plus or minus a year. At that time, the brightness of the star system will increase by 10,000 fold.
It’s important to note that something like this has never been done before.
“It’s a one-in-a-million chance that you can predict an explosion,” Molnar explained in a statement. “It’s never been done before,” Molnar added.
It all started after Molnar researching the star KIC 9832227 in 2013, where he discovered a that the star was actually a binary.
What is a binary star?
A binary star consists of two stars orbiting around a center point. These group of stars may look like a single star but, research in recent years have discovered that several visible stars are actually binary star systems.
The dean of research at Calvin College explains that Molnar’s research can be appreciated not only by astronomers but everyday people around the world.
LOS ANGELES – JUNE 24: Zeiss telescope at the Griffith observatory on June 24,2012 in Los Angeles, USA. The Zeiss Refractors from 1935 is open to public and free due to Griffiths will. (Jorg Hackemann / Shutterstock.com)
“The project is significant not only because of the scientific results, but also because it is likely to capture the imagination of people on the street,” said Walhout in a statement posted on Calvin College’s website.
“If the prediction is correct, then for the first time in history, parents will be able to point to a dark spot in the sky and say, ‘Watch, kids, there’s a star hiding in there, but soon it’s going to light up.’”