The Real Death Star: Watch the Video

by Claudine Zap

Forget about "2012." We have seen the end of the world, and it's happening now. OK, not to our planet, but light years away a star like our sun is in its death throes.

A dramatic — and eerie — video captured for the first time by researchers at Whipple Observatory in Arizona gives the clearest look yet of what happens when a star dies — and gives us clues to the fate of our own sun.

The death watch goes something like this. As reported by Physorg.com, the star, named Chi Cygni, is about 500 light years away from Earth. The star that's like our sun has started to die. Scientists can tell because it's glowing red and has expanded to such a large size it would engulf every planet from here to Mars. Using a technique called interferometry, the scientists combined the light of several telescopes to catch these images.

Astronomers agree this is what our future looks like. A long, long time from now. Confirmed the lead scientist on the discovery: "This work opens a window onto the fate of our Sun five billion years from now, when it will near the end of its life."

As the star runs out of hydrogen fuel, it has started to pulse every 408 days, growing and shrinking like a gigantic star heart while it sputters and dims. Sort of like a ginormous light bulb that's flickering before it goes out. And while it's a depressing thought, it sure looks cool. Check out this time-lapsed video of the pulsating death star. What a way to go.

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