Astrophysicists from Radbouud University in the Netherlands announced that the universe will end much before they have been expected. Based on new calculations, they concluded that all the stars in space will go out in one quintillion of years – a number with a unit followed by eighty -eight zeros. This is dramatically shorter than the previous estimate, which was 10 to 1,100 – number with a unit followed by 1,100 zeros.
Scientists believe that behind this process of extinction of the universe is a phenomenon associated with Hawking’s radiation. It is a theoretical process in which black holes emit radiation and gradually evaporate until they completely disappear. It has long been assumed that this phenomenon concerns exclusively black holes, but scientists have shown that objects such as neutron stars and white dwarfs could evaporate in a similar way.
Neutron stars and white dwarfs represent the final stage of the life of the star. While massive stars end up like a supernova and then collapses into neutron stars, smaller stars than the sun turn into white dwarfs. According to a new study, these dead stars may persist extremely long, but eventually disappear when they become unstable.
“In other words, if we understand how long it takes for a neutron star or a white dwarf to die, we can better estimate the maximum life time of the universe,” he said Chief author of the study Professor Heino Falcke from Radboud University. Previous estimates did not take into account the influence of Hawking’s radiation and therefore significantly overestimated the life of the universe. “So the definitive end of the universe occurs much sooner than expected, but fortunately it will take a long time,” He delivered Falcke in an official statement.
