The New York Post reported that a team of scientists has reviewed and made a new estimate for the remaining time of the universe, and arrived at a much shorter number than previously expected.
In ancient estimates, scientists assumed that the last objects in the universe would vanish in about 10¹¹⁰⁰ years, a huge number consisting of a 1 followed by 1,100 zeros. But a new study published in the “Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics” and prepared by researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands, suggests that the actual duration may be closer to 10⁷⁸ years, that is, 1 followed by only 78 zeros, according to what was published by the Science Aim website.
Although the new number is still beyond comprehension, the difference between the two estimates is so enormous that it is difficult to imagine.
This modification is mainly based on what is known as “Hawking radiation”, a theory proposed by physicist Stephen Hawking in 1975, which states that black holes are not completely dark, but rather gradually lose part of their mass through the leakage of particles.
According to Hawking’s explanation, pairs of particles form at the edge of a black hole, with one escaping outward while the other is swallowed, giving the escaping particle energy derived from the hole itself. Over time, this erodes the black hole’s mass until it evaporates completely, a proposition that contradicts Albert Einstein’s relativity assumption that the mass of black holes only increases.
The same researchers, Heino Valke, Michael Wondrak, and Walter van Swilikom, had indicated in a previous study in 2023 that the effect of Hawking radiation may not be limited to black holes, but could include any body that has a gravitational field.
In their new study, they expanded the search to include 10 types of celestial bodies, with the goal of estimating the time needed for them to completely evaporate based on their density, induced by similar radiation.
Among the most notable findings relate to white dwarf stars, which are the remains of dense stars like the Sun after they have exhausted their fuel. It is predicted that about 97% of the Milky Way’s stars will end up like this, before later disappearing in about 10⁷⁸ years.
By comparison, the current universe is estimated to be about 13.8 billion years old (about 10¹⁰ years), meaning that the new estimate of its remaining age exceeds its current age by a difference of 10⁶⁸.
“The end of the universe may be closer than we thought, but it is still very far away on any conceivable time scale,” said lead researcher Heino Falke. (Russia All)
