
Scientists Predict Star Collision Visible to the Naked Eye in 2022 - happy-go-lucky
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/09/509010493/scientists-predict-star-collision-visible-to-the-naked-eye-in-2022
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aaronbrethorst
Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13348829](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13348829)

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crusso
Maybe I'm up too early, but I have an idea: Where will you be in your life
when those stars collide?

Write down (briefly) where you are in your life right now, on a blog,
Facebook, or even some tweets.

Then write down where you think you'll be in your life in the five or so years
when these stars collides. Hashtag it #whenstarscollide or give it a similar
title so people can find it when the times comes.

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Mithaldu
In the year 222, when those stars collided, i wasn't anywhere.

At best i could note where i am when the light of the collision arrives here.

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mikeytown2
Good news is that the James Webb telescope should be up and running by then.

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grondilu
I've told that to my mum. She basically freaked out when I mentioned that the
new star will be red. She has very little if any scientific background and she
struggled to find words to describe what she felt but I could feel she saw
this upcoming event as a esoteric sign or something.

People who are even more into astrology and stuff are probably losing their
s.it.

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jeffiel
The prediction is really that these stars collided about 1795 years ago, and
we may find out about it soon.

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drjesusphd
Because simultaneity itself is relative, in our frame it actually does happen
in 2022. It doesn't make sense to say the stars already collided if it's not
in our past light cone.

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pif
Simultaneity is only defined when you talk about two (or more) events. The
discussion was about an event: the collision of two stars. What is the other
event?

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jacobolus
The generous interpretation of what he means is that considering that this
event is outside of our past light cone, there exists an inertial reference
frame such that the collision happens “after” our “present”.

Of course, relative to our own inertial reference frames as we experience
them, i.e. where we are mostly not moving, the collision would be thousands of
years in the “past”.

When he says “in our frame” he is clearly at least slightly confused.

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lawless123
It's like saying lighting struck the moment you heard the sound.

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executesorder66
So will it be visible in both hemispheres?

How will we know when and where to look?

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tejtm
In the northern constellation Cygnus (the Swan) As far as places in the sky to
notice a new star showing up by eye it is suboptimal since it is right in the
middle of the Milky Way.

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drjesusphd
Plus Cygnus and nearby constellations already have some of the brightest stars
in the sky.

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sanxiyn
Yes Cygnus has bright stars. But this star is predicted to change apparent
magnitude from 12 to 2. If it becomes apparent magnitude 2, it will be the
second brightest star in Cygnus, just past Deneb.

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_andromeda_
Any one know for how long we'll continue to observe the aftermath of the
collision?

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jayajay
i love how you posted this ironically.

"we might be able to see this with the naked eye! why bother when you can see
it through JWST?"

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dang
We've banned this account for repeatedly posting unsubstantive and/or uncivil
comments and ignoring our requests to stop.

We detached this comment from
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13363274](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13363274)
and marked it off-topic.

