Ep. 86: The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System

A planetary nebula. The future of our Sun. Image credit: Hubble credit:

This is a show we wanted to do since we started Astronomy Cast but we always thought it was too early. We wanted you to know that we're positive, happy people with enthusiasm for astronomy and the future. It's time for some sadness. It's time for a grim look to see what the future holds for the Universe. This week we stay close to home and consider the end of humanity, the Earth, the Sun, and the entire Solar System. Next week we'll extend out to the very end of the Universe. Episode 86: The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System

Show Notes

Episode 86: The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System

1. Petrucio Says:
   April 28th, 2008 at 11:59 am

   Bugged:

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   Access Denied
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2. Geoff Says:
   April 28th, 2008 at 12:52 pm

   I'v got no access to the show as well.

   I need to know this !
   is it worth paying off my credit card ?

3. Astronomy Cast Says:
   April 28th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

   If you have to pay your credit card off once every 10 billion years… then no.

4. geoff Says:
   April 28th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

   10 billion years, just a bit to long a time lol
   thanks for fixing the link

5. Phil Chambers Says:
   April 28th, 2008 at 4:17 pm

   While I enjoy your site, videos and podcasts are a very slow way of transmitting information. I came to this one to read the transcript but do not see it anywhere.

   I can read much faster than you/others can speak. And I can scan pieces that I am already familiar with. In this light, video/audio is a very slow inefficient means of communication.

   So while I am swimming upstream in the current onslaught of video/audio on the web, please post the text of the articles.

   Video/audio is only good for pure entertainment, not for information to be assimilated, reviewed, and referred to.

   I will not waste my time with such things. However, I thought a note to you might help in the future.

   Thank you

6. Graeme Says:
   April 28th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

   Phil Chambers: It's a transcript of the podcast, not the "text of the article". If you take a look at the other transcripts, you'll notice that they are rather lengthy and the majority of them are edited by one person. It probably takes a little time for one person to listen to and type out a transcript of the podcast for you. So, instead of whining to the producers of a *podcast* about too much audio, why don't you listen to it and take your own notes? Maybe you could be so kind as to post those notes after you're done listening to it?
   I'm going to be listening to the podcast, and I suppose I could type up a transcript for others… Except the only person asking (and not very nicely, I might add) is you.

   "I can read much faster than you/others can speak."
   "Video/audio is only good for pure entertainment…"
   "I will not waste my time with such things."

   Supplementing statements like those with a "While I enjoy your site" at the beginning and a "Thank you" at the end doesn't make your note about show notes anything more than passive-aggressive complaint.

   I doubt anyone reading your comment owes it to you to type out a transcript, so why not try asking nicely next time?

   (Thanks to the transcript editors, by the way.. I don't read the transcripts, but I'm sure some people appreciate the effort made.)

7. Vanamonde Says:
   April 29th, 2008 at 2:08 am

   Mmmm. You know, I share Mr. Chambers's concern somewhat, in a general way, in that the Web 2.0 seems to be designed for illiterates with a fibre optic connection. But then, after listening to Mr. Cain and Dr. Gay for over 40 hours, I have developed a Great Fondness for their voices and their style of presentation. And as for efficency, I listen to "Astronomy Cast" mostly on my LG Musiq cell phone using it's FM transmitter on my car stereo as I commute to work. No way, I could read it and drive!

   The name of this show is "Astronomy Cast". The audio cast is the mission of this site. This is the format it was designed to be and I have discovered it to be superior to many others, especially in the field of Astronomy. It is not prefect but…..we do love it.

   Oh, and it is free. It is a gift, one I appreciate very, very much. It has stirred a very old passion for astronomy in a way that nothing else has in about 30 years or more. And here I have meet many new friends.

   I would ask you to mind your tongue, Mr. Chambers, should you return. I take issue with those who are rude to my friends.

   And if you truly do not return, too bad. You have missed out on something very wonderful.

8. Osvaldo Says:
   April 29th, 2008 at 8:29 am

   I can write and read english so so, but for me is more difficult to listen this episodes. I should like better writen articles.

   I like your site very much.

   Best regards

   Osvaldo

9. Astronomy Cast Says:
   April 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am

   The transcripts and show notes are coming back shortly.

10. NightBird Says:
    April 29th, 2008 at 11:53 pm

    Thank you, AC. For me the text is an important complement to understand all the audio and enjoy it.
    And given that most people write slower that others can speak, special thanks to Cindy and anyone else involved the transcription and edition of the episodes.

11. Tech Roach Says:
    April 30th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    My Chemistry professor told me that one interesting reason the universe would end would be the time when the universe just can't resist the entropy generated.

    I mean, we all learned from high school that entropy increases after each process. So, who knows, there may be a limit to this increase. Sounds exciting.

12. John Says:
    May 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 am

    >>there may be a limit to this increase.

    There is. But in a state of maximum entropy, no further processes are possible. It's a state of uniform temperature, just above absolute zero. And there is simply no energy left in the system to do anything.

13. Wrye Says:
    May 5th, 2008 at 7:12 pm

    Well, I have a question. A few years ago, it was suggested in a serious way that one way to prolong Earth's lifespan in the habitable zone would be to widen its orbit by maneuvering an asteroid such that it shoots by the earth a few thousand times, adding orbital momentum and slooooowly widening the orbit over centuries. What struck me was just how possible (if drastic) a measure this sounded like. We could probably attempt it with technology in the next 50 years. Has this since been debunked or is it still a legitimate possibility?

14. Harmon Everett Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 8:14 am

    Please! Get your facts straight, people!
    Your original assumption is faulty, the Sun does not need to heat up and expand in a billion years, it will not "run out of fuel" in a billion years.

    The reason the Sun is predicted to heat up and expand in a billion years, is not lack of fuel, but the interference of the ash products, iron and silicon, with the internal fusion processes. There will still be 95 percent of the current amount of Hydrogen in the sun then, as there is now. Please talk to a knowledgeable Solar Physicist.

    Removing those ash products so they will not interfere with the normal operation of the Sun, is merely an engineering problem.

    Any person who uses a fireplace realizes that occasionally you need to remove the ash products.

    Please talk to a knowledgeable Solar physicist before you go making simplistic unthinking fearmongering statements for the sake of entertainment. Yes, it is a danger. No, it is not an inevitability. Currently we don't know how to fix it, but in 1910, we didn't know how to make manned Moon landings, either. We know about the problem, we can work on the engineering solutions.

    If you put a horse in a field; in a year, you will still have a horse, in a field.
    If you put a man or a woman in a field; in a year THERE IS NO LIMIT to what may be in that field.

    In one year:
    The B-52 Bomber was designed and built
    The Eiffel Tower was designed and built
    The Crystal Palace exhibit hall for the London World's Fair was designed and
    built.

    I think, in 500 million years, we may be able to figure out how to remove the iron and silicon ash products from the Sun.

    Intelligent humans are a new force in the Universe, and the "natural" course of events is no longer an inevitability.

    Otherwise, enjoyed your broadcast.
    Harmon

15. Astronomy Cast Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 7:17 pm

    Harmon, I have to say that your comment is one of the funnier things I have heard in a long time. Honestly, if we have the technology to go into the core of the sun and rearrange things while surviving temperatures and pressures capable of sustaining nuclear burning, I suspect we'll have the technology to just go somewhere else. Sometimes, it's just easier to move.

    But honestly, I think there is some technology we're not likely to ever achieve. I'm going to blog about this over on StarStryder in a few hours if you want to find out why.

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