Nature has a way of putting things into their proper perspective. That's particularly true when we look up into the night sky. We're looking back across time at bodies of gigantic proportions. They shined down on earth when the dinosaurs ruled, and most will still be there when humanity has gone the way of the Dodo.
Or perhaps our end, long into the future, will be a bit more…crispy. As the Courthouse News Service's Madalyn Wright reports, scientists have published observational data of a giant plant currently spiraling into its star…and a fiery demise.”
Similar to Earth's ocean, tides are the main culprit for Kepler-1658b's ultimate demise. As the planet and its star work to be in alignment, immense amounts of energy are lost. The energy expended is being taken from the planet's orbit, causing the orbit to shrink. In layperson's terms, Kepler-1658b is spiraling closer and closer to its star. The “death by star” theory isn't new but this is the first observation of it occurring between a planet and an evolved star.
“We're only seeing a snapshot of this planet's life, but if it continues on this trajectory, in 3 million years, it will no longer be here. It will have crashed into the star,” explained [Shreyas] Vissapragada. “I think 3 million years sounds like a long time. But if you were to convert the age of the star to 100 years or a human lifetime, it's like a month — it's in the last month of its life.”
Some useful perspective on just how much is out there, how profound it is, and how utterly immaterial our grievances, obsessions, triggers and hot buttons here on Earth compared to it.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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