Scientists predict exact date universe will end which comes ‘much sooner than expected’

Scientists have come up with a new prediction about when the universe will end and surprisingly, it could happen much sooner than anyone previously thought. Of course, we’re not talking about something that will happen tomorrow, next year, or even in millions of years.

The date is still so far in the future that it’s nearly impossible to imagine. But compared to older estimates, this new prediction suggests the end will come a lot earlier.

The idea of the “end of the universe” has always been something that sounds more like science fiction. It’s the kind of thing people might joke about when they forget their lunch or ruin their Saturday night outfit. And who could forget when some thought the world would end back in December 2012? But now, scientists are approaching the concept in a much more serious way.

A research team at Radboud University in the Netherlands has done new calculations and concluded that the universe will completely run out of stars in one quinvigintillion years. That number has 78 zeros. To give you some perspective, the previous prediction had 1,100 zeros, so this new number is still huge but much smaller by comparison.

According to lead researcher Dr. Heino Falcke, who specializes in radio astronomy and astroparticle physics, this change is significant. He explained that the end of the universe is “much sooner than expected,” though he also reassured everyone by adding, “fortunately, it still takes a very long time.”

So what’s causing this earlier end? It has to do with something called “virtual particle pairs.” Normally, these particles appear and disappear almost instantly. But around very dense cosmic objects like black holes, neutron stars, and white dwarfs the intense bending of space-time can actually pull these particles apart. When that happens, they become real particles and escape into space.

This constant escape of particles could mean that even the most stable objects in space will eventually fade away. Previously, scientists believed that white dwarfs and neutron stars were basically eternal. But the new research challenges that view.

This particle escape process is related to a theory called Hawking radiation. It was originally used to explain how black holes might slowly lose energy and vanish over time. Now, the researchers believe something similar could happen to other super-dense stars.

Dr. Walter van Suijlekom, a professor of mathematics at Radboud and co-author of the study, said that asking questions like these and studying extreme cases can help scientists better understand the universe. He added that one day, this line of research might even help solve the mystery of Hawking radiation itself.

In short, while the universe isn’t ending any time soon, scientists now think it won’t last quite as long as they once believed. And even though we’re still talking about a timeline that stretches far beyond our lives—or even the entire history of Earth it gives us a new way of thinking about just how temporary everything might be, even the stars themselves.