‘Death date' of universe revealed as scientists predict when ‘shrinking' will start before ‘Big Crunch' wipes us all out
GOING, GONE! 'Death date' of universe revealed as scientists predict when 'shrinking' will start before 'Big Crunch' wipes us all out
THE universe will start to shrink in just 7billion years, a new study has claimed, upending the prediction that space is ever-expanding.
The study, published by physicists from Cornell University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other institutions, suggests that the universe will reach a peak size.
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The researchers' theory hinges on dark energy, a mysterious force that makes up about 70 per cent of the known universe
Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team
After that point, the universe will begin contracting until everything collapses back into a single point.
A reverse Big Bang of sorts, which scientists have dubbed the "Big Crunch".
Using data from a number of astronomical surveys including the Dark Energy Survey and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, the researchers predict that this "Big Crunch" will occur in approximately 33.3billion years.
With the universe currently 13.8billion years old, this gives Earth and everything else roughly 20billion years before entering oblivion, according to the study.
The theory is that the universe expands like a "rubber band" - eventually, the elastic force becomes stronger than the expansion, causing everything to snap back together.
The researchers' theory hinges on dark energy, a mysterious force that makes up about 70 per cent of the known universe.
Dark energy has long been believed to be the driving force behind the expansion of the universe.
However, recent observations suggest the force might actually be dynamic - meaning it can only expand so much until it shrinks again.
The new model proposed by researchers suggests the universe will continue expanding but at a gradually slowing rate.
At its maximum size, about 69 per cent larger than the size it is today, a gradual contraction will begin.
Mystery Martian hills found on Mars sparking hope 'time capsule' mounds will solve biggest mystery from 4BILLION yrs ago
Several major astronomical projects launching in the coming years aim to provide more information on the behaviour of dark energy.
These missions could confirm or rule out a "Big Crunch" scenario.
Even if the terrifying outcome is confirmed, a 20billion year countdown is hardly a reason to panic.
For context, complex life on Earth has existed for only about 600million years - a fraction of time in comparison.
20billion years down the line, the Sun will have died and our galaxy will have collided with the neighbouring Andromeda galaxy long before 'the great end'.
The prediction also comes with a significant level of uncertainty.
The researchers have acknowledged that their model has large margins of error due to limited observational data.
So, alternative scenarios - including eternal expansion - are still possible.
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The key piece of evidence that shows interstellar object is really an alien spacecraft, according to experts
Earlier this month, astronomers spotted a bizarre interstellar object hurtling through the solar system. Dubbed 3I/ATLAS, this 12 miles (20km) long visitor has travelled to our sun from another star on a journey that could have taken billions of years. But now, a leading physicist says he has spotted the key piece of evidence that shows 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spacecraft. Professor Avi Loeb, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist from Harvard University, told MailOnline that this interstellar object is simply too big to be natural. Experts suggest that it must either be an exceptionally large solid mass or a smaller comet with a bright envelope of gas and dust. If it is not a comet, Professor Loeb says 3I/ATLAS is so impossibly large that the chances of it naturally reaching our sun are incredibly low. Professor Loeb says: 'It is difficult to imagine a natural process that would favour a plunge towards the inner solar system at 60 kilometres per second. 'An alternative is that the object targets the inner solar system by some technological design.' 3I/ATLAS was first spotted by astronomers on July 1 by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System. After tracing its orbital path, scientists realised that its extremely elliptical orbit and high speed meant its origins lay outside the solar system. This makes it only the third interstellar object that humanity has detected, following 'Oumuamua in 2017 and Borisov in 2019. Arriving from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, 3I/ATLAS is currently heading towards the inner solar system at 135,000 miles per hour. NASA predicts that it will reach its closest point to the sun on October 30, at a distance of 130 million miles (210 million km) - passing just within the orbit of Mars. Thankfully, the object poses no threat to Earth and will pass harmlessly at around 150 million miles (240 million km) away at its closest point. Since the object is currently around 300 million miles (490 million km) from Earth, astronomers can't directly measure how large it is. Instead, they try and work out how much light the object gives off and estimate its size based on how reflective it might be. If it is a solid object like an asteroid, which reflects around five per cent of the light that hits it, then 3I/ATLAS must be between 12 and 14 miles (20-24km) in diameter. That makes 3I/ATLAS up to 200 times larger than the 100-metre-long and extremely thin 'Oumuamua. Professor Loeb says this fact immediately made him suspicious since large objects are typically much rarer than smaller ones. Professor Loeb says: 'Now you ask, "how many objects on the scale of 'Oumuamua are there for each object that is 24 kilometres in size?" 'The answer is about a million. But we haven't seen a million 'Oumuamua-sized interstellar objects before seeing this one, it's very strange.' But Professor Loeb says that the strangeness of 3I/ATLAS' size doesn't stop there. In a paper, now accepted for publication by the Research Notes of the AAS, Professor Loeb asked what it would take for an object of 3I/ATLAS' size to reach Earth. Based on how often we see objects of this size, previous research calculated how many 12-mile-long objects could exist out in the Milky Way. When Professor Loeb took this number and multiplied it by the mass of 3I/ATLAS, the result 'makes zero sense'. 'This ends up being a quarter of the mass of the stars in the Milky Way,' says Professor Loeb. 'But because only two per cent of the mass in stars is in heavy elements that make rocks, you don't have the mass to make enough rocks of this size.' The implication is that 3I/ATLAS is much, much rarer than its appearance in our Solar System suggests. In fact, Professor Loeb argues that objects this big are too rare for their appearance in the inner solar system to be random. Professor Loeb says: 'It's not like these objects are floating around in all directions, this object was aiming to get to the inner solar system. 'The question is: "Why was it sent in the direction of the inner solar system?"' Professor Loeb isn't sure what this says about 3I/ATLAS' origins, but he compares the situation to the novel 'Rendezvous with Rama' by Arthur C. Clarke. In that story, an interstellar object arriving in the solar system turns out to be an alien spacecraft sent by an advanced civilisation. However, just like in Arthur C. Clarke's fictional account, Professor Loeb suggests that scientists will need to do a lot more investigation before we know what 3I/ATLAS is. Could it be anything else? The alternative explanation for 3I/ATLAS' apparent size is that it is much smaller and much more reflective than any asteroid. That would be possible if the interstellar object is a comet, a ball of ice and dust which moves very quickly through space. If it were a comet, the heat from the sun would evaporate a layer of ice and dust, which would reflect back a lot of light. This would explain why 3I/ATLAS appears to be so bright while maintaining that its core is small enough to be natural. This is the accepted answer among most astronomers and space agencies, with NASA and the European Space Agency labelling the object an 'interstellar comet '. While Professor Loeb says that this is the 'simplest and most likely' solution, he doesn't think that the evidence for the comet theory is conclusive. For example, he points to a recent observation by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT). The VLT did not find direct evidence of dust or gas being released by the object, but concluded that it was a comet based on surface 'reddening' caused by dust. Professor Loeb maintains that this could simply be caused by the fact that the surface is red. Likewise, observations showing the fuzzy streak of the comet's gas layer could be an artefact of the long exposure images and 3I/ATLAS' high speed. This doesn't mean that 3I/ATLAS isn't a comet, but Professor Loeb believes it's still too early to rule out the possibility that it is a solid object. 'The good news is that it will come closer to the sun and it will get heated up by sunlight,' says Professor Loeb. 'The more it is heated, the more mass it would shed if it were a comet, and the easier it will be for us to tell what this object is.' Our first interstellar visitor sailed past Earth at at 97,200mph in 2017, but what exactly was Oumuamua? A cigar-shaped object named 'Oumuamua sailed past Earth at 97,200mph (156,428km/h) in October. It was first spotted by a telescope in Hawaii on 19 October, and was observed 34 separate times in the following week. It is named after the Hawaiian term for 'scout' or 'messenger' and passed the Earth at about 85 times the distance to the moon. It was the first interstellar object seen in the solar system, and it baffled astronomers. Initially, it was thought the object could be a comet. However, it displays none of the classic behavior expected of comets, such as a dusty, water-ice particle tail. The asteroid is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly-elongated - perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That aspect ratio is greater than that of any asteroid or asteroid observed in our solar system to date. But the asteroid's slightly red hue — specifically pale pink — and varying brightness are remarkably similar to objects in our own solar system. Around the size of the Gherkin skyscraper in London, some astronomers were convinced it was piloted by aliens due to the vast distance the object traveled without being destroyed – and the closeness of its journey past the Earth. Alien hunters at SETI – the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence based at Berkeley University, California said there was a possibility the rock was 'an alien artefact'. But scientists from Queen's University Belfast took a good look at the object and said it appears to be an asteroid, or 'planetesimal' as originally thought. Researchers believe the cigar-shaped asteroid had a 'violent past', after looking at the light bouncing off its surface. They aren't exactly sure when the violent collision took place, but they believe the lonely asteroid's tumbling will continue for at least a billion years.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
'Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's once-in-a-lifetime feature humbled me'
We rarely learn about space travel on this side of the pond. By the time I departed the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, I was ready to single-handedly campaign for it to be added to the school syllabus myself. I get it. Why would we bother learning about what else is out there when we can barely get our own affairs in order on this planet? But there are so many invaluable lessons to be learned from a trip to KSCVC. Eye-opening really doesn't cut it. There was one moment in particular that left me feeling truly humbled. Our visit coincided with a rocket launch, which has now become an almost bi-weekly occurrence on the Space Coast due to the battle of the billionaires - and I was so glad it did. An unconscious smile crept across my face as Elon Musk's latest Starlink satellite shot into orbit, thankfully going far smoother than their failed Starship attempt days later, while I got a shot in the arm of how small and insignificant we are. 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It's well worth planning your visit around one, but there's still so much to see and do regardless. You ideally need two days to fully take in all there is on offer, although you could cram in most of the must-sees if you arrive promptly for opening at 9am and stick around until closing at 5pm. And that's not because of endless queues or overcrowded rooms. It's just testament to how detailed, vast and insightful the whole place is. After passing the NASA meatball and entering via a security check, you're first met with the Rocket Garden, which has flowered since the doors first opened in 1967 to now include rockets from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Beyond the garden you'll find Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex, offering a look at the here and now as well as the future of space exploration. For me and many others I spoke to, the tear-jerking highlight is Space Shuttle Atlantis. 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One of the things the Visitor Complex does really well throughout is telling a story, by setting the scene with a trio of video presentations upon your arrival to an attraction, before letting you go and explore for yourself at your own pace. It keeps the flow of visitors manageable and gives structure to what could otherwise be an overwhelming experience. And there's so much to see and do once again at this stop, the most glaring being the actual Saturn V rocket, the largest ever flown. You will really feel you'd benefit of a second day at the Centre to take in everything back at the main complex. The Heroes and Legends exhibition, including the US Astronauts Hall of Fame, puts the spotlight on the people who make it possible. And at an additional cost, you can actually chat with an astronaut in a Q&A session while enjoying a drink and a bite to eat. Or alternatively, a more widescale presentation is included with admission. That's not to mention the IMAX theatre, kids play area and Hyperdeck VR game, which I'll be returning one day to avenge my defeat on. With single-day tickets costing $77 plus tax for an adult and $67 plus tax for a child, plus a two-day ticket offering a significant discount at $91 per adult/$81 per child, money's worth doesn't even cut it. Particularly, when you compare it to the cost of a day out at Florida's most talked-about attractions like Disney World and Universal. KSCVC is less than an hour away from the hustle and bustle of Orlando and also Melbourne, where we flew into courtesy of TUI. So there's no need to stay nearby to visit, although it was great fun at the Courtyard by Marriott Titusville, where you'll often see the astronauts staying themselves and space gear being slowly delivered across the lagoon. All in all, I struggle to think of a better example of teaching your children without them even realising they're learning. KSCVC is the ideal blend of museum and theme park, experience and education. Many will go away with lofty dreams of becoming an astronaut, and who knows, one amongst the thousands might well do it. But the most important message is that you can do anything you put your mind to. ( brings to life the epic story of the US space programme, offering a full day or more of fun, inspiration, and educational activities. Single-day admission is $77 per adult/$67 per child plus tax, and the two-day ticket is $91 per adult/$81 per child plus tax. Located just 45 minutes from Orlando, Florida, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is open daily at 9am, with closing times varying by season. Guest can embrace their passion for outer space at the ( The hotel offers spectacular views from the hotel's rooftop bar, The Space Bar ( which serves local food and drinks and provides a prime viewing area for rocket launches. Rooms start from $170 plus taxes per night, on a room-only basis. ( offers return flights to Melbourne Orlando Airport, Florida from £362 per person. Price is based on two adults departing from London Gatwick, with 15kg hold luggage and 10kg hand luggage per person, plus complimentary meals and drinks. To book, go to visit your local TUI holiday store or download the app.
Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
A mysterious, ancient '12-mile wide interstellar visitor' is racing towards us
It sounds like the start of a cheesy science-fiction film. A gigantic, ancient, icy… thing spotted hurtling towards us by a lonely astronomer. But this is exactly what happened for stargazers following the discovery of a weird interstellar object called 3I/ATLAS, or 'third interstellar', this month. The object is big – possibly as wide 12 miles, larger than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs – and is speeding towards us at 130,000mph. 3I/Atlas was spotted on July 1 by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile, when it was 420million miles away. After being given the catchy name, 'A11pl3Z', scientists soon realised that the object came from interstellar space. As you read this, 3I/ATLAS is about 416million miles away from the Sun and travelling from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. This is only the third time that astronomers have found an uninvited guest in our solar system. First was Oumuamua, a Manhattan-sized, cigar-shaped rock that passed close to us in 2017. For a time, one astronomer suspected it was an alien spaceship. Then, in 2019, the comet Borisov paid us a drive-by visit. Dr Alfredo Carpineti, an astrophysicist living in London, told Metro that our latest 'interstellar interloper' is 'very exciting'. 'What makes it very special is that this object is very different compared to the previous two visitors, Oumuamua and Comet Borisov. It's moving almost twice as fast, for example,' the senior staff writer for IFLScience said. What first gave away that 3I/Atlas is not of our solar system was its eccentric, hyperbolic orbit, meaning it'll loop around the Sun before being flung back out into space. By tracing its celestial footsteps, Dr Carpineti said, it shows that it 'might come from a whole different region of the galaxy compared to the other two'. 'It might be a lot older, at least 7billion years old,' he added. 'Much older than the solar system.' The trajectory of 3I/ATLAS hints that it came from the Milky Way's 'thick disk' – the retirement home of stars on the outskirts of our galaxy – according to a paper seen by Dr Carpineti for IFLScience. Researchers say 3I/ATLAS probably formed around an ancient star and is made up of a lot of water ice. Scientists say it is a comet, a giant, dirty snowball. As it soars towards the Sun, the ice will melt and create a wispy tail. When sunlight bounces off this plume of gas and dust, called a coma, this makes the object appear very bright. A big clue that 3I/ATLAS is a comet is how bright it is – enough that it's already visible using modest-sized telescopes. Asteroids, space rubble, have far darker surfaces. We'll learn more about what 3I/ATLAS is as it zooms closer and closer to us, Dr Carpineti said. More Trending But don't worry, it won't get too close for comfort. 'This interstellar interloper is a cosmic curiosity and it poses no threat to Earth,' he added. 'The closest it will get to the Sun is 210million kilometres, a little bit closer than Mars,' which would be around Halloween or early December. 'At that point, the Earth will be on the other side of the Sun, so we won't even be able to see it at closest approach.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: The Simpsons predict the future – again – after scientists plan artificial solar eclipse MORE: Earth is spinning so fast that today will be shorter – but is time going faster? MORE: Scientists now believe Earth is sunken near the centre of a giant cosmic void
