Ever wondered how long the universe will last? It might be a lot shorter than we thought! Scientists at Radboud University have found that the universe could end in about 1078 years—a huge difference from earlier estimates of 101,100 years.
This new calculation is based on Hawking radiation, a theory by the famous physicist Stephen Hawking. He suggested that black holes aren’t entirely black—they emit tiny amounts of radiation and energy, slowly disappearing over time. But here’s the exciting part: the scientists discovered that not just black holes, but other objects like neutron stars and even white dwarfs can also “evaporate” through a similar process.
“So the ultimate end of the universe comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time,” said Heino Falcke, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.
White dwarf stars, which are some of the last shining remnants in the cosmos, were thought to last practically forever. But with this new understanding, they might decay much sooner than we believed. The researchers also calculated that even something as small as the moon—or a human—would take about 1090 years to evaporate via Hawking-like radiation. Don’t worry though—that’s a one followed by 90 zeros!
While these times are unimaginably far in the future, this research helps us understand the universe better. Who knows what other mysteries are waiting to be uncovered?
