The End in sight...

[HankR]

Here's a brief summary of a new book by a couple of U-Dub (University of Washington, Seattle) astronomers regarding the earth's "rosy" future.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0301/15earthclock/

To make a 12-billion-year-long story short: terrestrial life will cease in another half-billion years or so as global warming becomes global scorching. Life will survive in the oceans for a time, but eventually even microbes will be unable to withstand the intense heat. The oceans will vaporize about 3.5 billion years from now, and the entire earth will be atomized as it is engulfed by the expanding sun in about 7.5 billion years. Of course, humans will be long gone (one way or another) long before.

Possibly we'll be able to simulate all this in a future version of Celestia...

- Hank

[Sum0]

Well, I certainly hope that the death part isn't mandatory.

[chris]

Here's a brief summary of a new book by a couple of U-Dub (University of Washington, Seattle) astronomers regarding the earth's "rosy" future.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0301/15earthclock/

To make a 12-billion-year-long story short: terrestrial life will cease in another half-billion years or so as global warming becomes global scorching. Life will survive in the oceans for a time, but eventually even microbes will be unable to withstand the intense heat. The oceans will vaporize about 3.5 billion years from now, and the entire earth will be atomized as it is engulfed by the expanding sun in about 7.5 billion years. Of course, humans will be long gone (one way or another) long before.

Possibly we'll be able to simulate all this in a future version of Celestia...

I just picked Don Brownlee's and Peter Ward's The Life and Death of Planet Earth up on Monday night and stayed up until 5am reading it. Though I don't think it is quite as good as their previous workRare Earth, it's a fascinating book nonetheless. There are lots of interesting scenarios to simulate in Celestia . . . Glaciated earth, Pangaea 2, runaway greenhouse Earth, the solar system with the Sun in its red giant phase.

--Chris

[Sum0]

Inspired by a similar article in Sky and Telescope, i've already started making a Future Sol system around HD23475... although without hard data about orbits and such, I've put it on hold. Anyone know any useful sites?

[Rassilon]

Well since Im already 2 million years old glad Im kicking the bucket in the 51st century

Yes I can safely say mankind will be far beyond this mortal realm before that turn of events...I cant help but think we will resemble beings of pure energy and thought in less than a million years into our future...That doesnt seem so bad does it?