A STAR primed to explode in a blast that could wipe out the Earth was revealed by astronomers yesterday.
It will self-destruct in an explosion called a supernova with the force of 20
billion billion billion megatons of TNT.
New studies show the star, called T Pyxidis, is much closer than previously
thought at 3,260 light-years away - a short hop in galactic terms.
So the blast from the thermonuclear explosion could strip away our ozone layer
that keeps out deadly space radiation. Life on Earth would then be frazzled.
The doomsday scenario was described yesterday by astronomers from Villanova
University, Philadelphia, US.
They said the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite has shown them that
T Pyxidis is really two stars, one called a white dwarf that is sucking in
gas and steadily growing. When it reaches a critical mass it will blow
itself to pieces.
It will become as bright as all the other stars in the galaxy put together and
shine like a beacon halfway across the universe.
The experts said the Hubble space telescope has photographed the star gearing
up for its big bang with a series of smaller blasts or "burps", called
novas.
These explosions came regularly about every 20 years from 1890 - but stopped
after 1967.
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