In just five years’ time, two stars in a distant galaxy will collide, merge and then explode, and we’ll be able to watch the whole thing unfold.
That’s the extraordinary prediction of astronomer Larry Molnar, who has been studying the suns, known as KIC 9832227, since 2013.
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Never before has an astronomer accurately predicted a star’s explosion, but Molnar claims that all the data points to a spectacular collision in 2022.
“It’s a one-in-a-million chance that you can predict an explosion. It’s never been done before,” Molnar told EarthSky.
But he added that the prediction is “progressing from theory to reality” as the two stars, which orbit each other, move closer and closer together.
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If the two stars do collide, they will merge and explode, boosting their brightness more than 10,000 times.
The explosion will be so dramatic that the new star will be visible from Earth without the aid of a telescope, albeit only temporarily.
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The explosion will be visible in the Cygnus constellation as a new star in the Northern Cross pattern.
KIC 9832227 is an eclipsing binary star system, meaning we can see one of the stars star passing the other from Earth. Molnar first started investigating it in 2013, but his interest was piqued when he realised it was behaving in a similar way to another star that had exploded unexpectedly in 2008.
Over the last two years, Molnar and his team have been observing the systems’ behaviour, and their findings have lent weight to the explosion hypothesis.
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“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,” he told EarthSky.
Günay Mutlu via Getty Images
While it’s difficult to predict when a star will explode, celestial explosions are hardly rare.
Scientists believe that our own solar system may have formed from the explosion of a star at the end of its life cycle.
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Research published in November suggests a low-mass supernova was so powerful it triggered a cloud of gas and dust to collapse, leading to the creation of the Sun and its planets.
“This is the forensic evidence we need to help us explain how the solar system was formed,” said Yong-Zhong Qian, astronomy professor at the University of Minnesota. “It points to a low-mass supernova as the trigger.”
NASA’s Favourite Photos Of 2016
NASA/Bill Ingalls
In this 30 second exposure taken with a circular fish-eye lens a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower as a photographer wipes moisture from the camera lenses Friday August 12 2016 in Spruce Knob West Virginia
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The second and final qualification motor QM-2 test for the Space Launch Systems booster is seen Tuesday June 28 2016 at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems test facilities in Promontory Utah
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 48 crew members NASA astronaut Jeff Williams Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan Kazakhstan on Wednesday Sept 7 2016Kazakh time
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NASA/Bill Ingalls
In this long exposure photograph the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is seen launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Friday Nov 18 2016
NASA/Joel Kowsky
The Soyuz MS-02 rocket is launched with Expedition 49 Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos Wednesday Oct 19 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Kazakhstan Monday July 4 2016
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NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams left Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos center and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos are seen inside the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft a few moments after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan Kazakhstan on Wednesday Sept 7 2016Kazakh time
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA onboard Thursday July 7 2016 Kazakh time July 6 Eastern time Baikonur Kazakhstan
NASA/Bill Ingalls
In this 30 second exposure a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Friday August 12 2016 in Spruce Knob West Virginia
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NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
From left to right Jack Connerney Juno deputy principal investigator and magnetometer lead co-investigator NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Chris Jones associate director for flight projects and mission success NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL Dr Jim Green Planetary Science Division Director NASA Scott Bolton Juno principal investigator Southwest Research Institute Geoff Yoder acting Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate NASA Michael Watkins director NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL and Rick Nybakken Juno project manager Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL celebrate with others on the Juno team after they received confirmation from the spacecraft that it had successfully completed the engine burn and entered orbit of Jupiter Monday July 4 2016 in mission control of the Space Flight Operations Facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena CA
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard launches from Pad-0A Monday Oct 17 2016 at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 49 crew members NASA astronaut Kate Rubins Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA near the town of Zhezkazgan Kazakhstan on Sunday Oct 30 2016
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NASA/Joel Kowsky
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASAs Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security-Regolith Explorer OSIRIS-REx spacecraft lifts off on from Space Launch Complex 41 on Thursday Sept 8 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida
NASA/Joel Kowsky
This composite image made from ten frames shows the International Space Station with a crew of six onboard in silhouette as it transits the sun at roughly five miles per second Saturday Dec 17 2016 from Newbury Park California
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard launches from Pad-0A Monday Oct 17 2016 at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia
