The sun is middle aged

The sun is in fact a middle aged star. It was born about 5 billion years ago, and will die in approximately 6 billion years. Yes, you read that correctly: the sun will die. In 3.5 billion years’ time. The sun, it is believed, will shine 40% brighter than it does right now. The temperature will be so high that oceans will boil and the water will evaporate into space forever. Earth’s climate will be like that on Venus: hot and dry, to the extent that it will be impossible to support life.

Stars don’t actually twinkle

Despite the fact that many children are taught the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, stars don’t actually twinkle. Science has revealed many intriguing star facts, including the fact that the twinkling that we see is actually a property of Earth’s turbulent atmosphere. The light from a star passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, which has many layers with different densities. This deflects the light, changing its colour and intensity. The result of many deflections, especially near the horizon, is the twinkling that we associate with stars. If you could see stars above the Earth’s atmosphere, they would cease to appear to be twinkling.

Looking at stars is looking back in time

If you have ever wanted to be able to look back and get a glimpse of the past, then you need only lift your eyes to the night sky. That’s because the light from stars takes millions of years to reach Earth. When you look at a star, you are seeing what it looked like thousands upon thousands of years ago. Therefore, looking at the stars in the night sky is literally looking back in time. If you used a telescope to view a star on the far end of the galaxy, based on these star facts, you would be looking a staggering 100,000 years into the past!

It would take you 70,000 years to reach the closest star

Besides the sun, Proxima Centauri is the closest star to Earth. It is located an incredible 4.2 light years away. In other words, light that is emitted from this star takes more than four years to reach Earth. Even the fastest spacecraft ever launched from Earth would take an unbelievable 35,000 (some say 70,000) years to reach Proxima Centauri. So, although space travel is a reality, star travel is yet to be one of the feasible star facts!

Cardboard Christmas tree is the talk of a town

A fresh-cut natural Christmas tree usually graces the Grand Arcade at Convention Hall on Asbury Park’s historic boardwalk, New Jersey. But this year, in its place is art made of cardboard in the shape of a tree incorporating elements of the seashore, the city’s architecture and its rich musical heritage, which most notably includes Bruce Springsteen. It is designed to be recycled after it is dismantled.

This year, the city’s art community approached the owner and manager of the Asbury Park boardwalk about creating a Christmas tree sculpture.

Michael Lavallee, a local artist, created the piece with Brad Hoffer. They call it “The Giving Tree”, created using natural and artificial lighting to cast shadows on parts of the tree while illuminating others so that its appearance changes throughout the day.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 18th, 2021