Technologies

Survivor planet around dead star gives us a peek at our solar system’s future

Maybe we should move to a moon of Jupiter before our sun dies.

Our sun has a time limit. It’ll reach the end of its life around 5 billion years from now. What will our solar system look like after the sun’s death throes? Astronomers found a distant solar system that hints at the fate of the planets in ours. Earth will probably get whacked, but Jupiter might survive.

A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature details a Jupiter-like planet in a Jupiter-like orbit around a dead, white dwarf star. The system is located near the center of the Milky Way and its discovery via the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii shows that some of the planets in our own system could continue to exist even after our star goes through its inevitable end-of-life tantrum in the far distant future.

«This evidence confirms that planets orbiting at a large enough distance can continue to exist after their star’s death,» said lead author Joshua Blackman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tasmania in Australia. «Given that this system is an analog to our own solar system, it suggests that Jupiter and Saturn might survive the sun’s red giant phase, when it runs out of nuclear fuel and self-destructs.»

Our sun is expected to move through a few phases when it dies. It will expand into a red giant, a phase NASA describes as «typically the most violent time in a star’s life.» This is when Earth will take a beating and become uninhabitable and likely destroyed.

Next up, the sun will settle into its white dwarf form as a dead star that is cooling and fading. That’s the kind of star the astronomers spotted the Jupiter-like planet orbiting. Keck Observatory shared a video animation of what that distant solar system and its survivor planet may have experienced.

Co-author David Bennett of the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center suggested a move to a moon of Jupiter and Saturn might be worth considering. That assumes humanity is still around. It means our long-term ambitions for interplanetary life should include a look at some of Jupiter’s tempting moons, like Europa, the target of an upcoming NASA mission.

Moving to Jupiter’s neighborhood wouldn’t solve all our problems. As Bennett pointed out, «…we would not be able to rely on heat from the sun as a white dwarf for very long.»

Some previous research, including a 2020 paper describing a giant planet that dodged destruction by its own star, show that survival is a possibility despite these star’s tendencies to go out in a blaze of glory. Scientists are still working out just how common or rare this might be.

Our sun’s demise is not a pressing problem for humanity, but it’s not a bad idea to think ahead. An extremely optimistic, sci-fi-inspired vision might see a far-future human civilization reaching out to live not just beyond Earth and Mars and even Jupiter, but all the way into other solar systems long before our planet becomes toast.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, June 8

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for June 8.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword isn’t too tough, but 1-Across might make you think of the sky, and that’s not the direction you need to go. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Org. with shooting stars
Answer: NBA

4A clue: Buildings with weather vanes, stereotypically
Answer: BARNS

6A clue: Swiss watch brand
Answer: OMEGA

7A clue: What Santa, Gandalf and Dumbledore each have
Answer: BEARD

8A clue: Pie in the ___
Answer: SKY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «I’m bad with ___» (party excuse)
Answer: NAMES

2D clue: Start of a billiards game
Answer: BREAK

3D clue: Seeing red
Answer: ANGRY

4D clue: Timothée’s role in «A Complete Unknown»
Answer: BOB

5D clue: Feeling blue
Answer: SAD

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for June 8, #258

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 258, for June 8.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition isn’t too tough, but let’s hope you know the résumé of a certain NBA player to get the blue group. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Let’s go at it.

Green group hint: Signal-callers.

Blue group hint: Hoops star’s teams.

Purple group hint: Great barbecue town.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Competition.

Green group: Names of NFL QBs.

Blue group: Teams Tyrese Haliburton has played for.

Purple group: Kansas City ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is competition. The four answers are bout, contest, event and match.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is names of NFL QBs. The four answers are Baker, Bo, Dak and Tua.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams Tyrese Haliburton has played for. The four answers are Iowa State, Kings, Pacers and USA.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Kansas City ____. The four answers are Chiefs, Current, Monarchs and Royals.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for June 8, #728

Here are some hints and the answers for Connections for June 8, #728.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle could be tricky. The purple category is one of those «sounds like» groups, that can be really tough to figure out. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Keep at it.

Green group hint: Think Wall Street animals.

Blue group hint: Online encyclopedia subheads.

Purple group hint: $$$.