Despite Online Miscue, the Sun Has Not Exploded

Georgia may be experiencing the hottest temperatures of the year this week, but, no, the sun has not exploded, contrary to a hacker’s post Monday morning on OnlineAthens, the website of the Athens Banner-Herald.

In an article entitled, “The sun has not exploded,” the website said it is investigating how a news alert got posted Monday morning at the top of the homepage announcing the end of the solar system.

The post read:

“This is the emergency broadcast system. Please ignore this message as always. BTW, the sun just exploded, and we’re all about to die.”

The news is a bit premature -- like by 5 billion years.

The website said the “unauthorized news item” was quickly taken off the site after it was shared on social media.

The director of digital for the Banner-Herald said the website is trying to determine how the snafu happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again. “And to our knowledge, the sun has not exploded,” Joel Kight dead-panned.

It just feels that way. The temperature in Athens was already in the high 90’s by early Monday afternoon, and the National Weather Service forecast says the trend will continue throughout the week.

• Check out the local forecast on Patch

And, if you’re wondering when the sun might actually explode, scientists say we have some time to prepare.

The University of California-Santa Barbara ScienceLine says it’ll be 5 billion years, give or take a billion.

Image: OnlineAthens