History Literature / DeathFromTheSkies

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: in this case, more literal than usual, when Plait talks about a false vacuum collapse, which would essentially shred the fabric of the entire universe in an ever expanding bubble, replacing it with... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin something we don't know]].
* TheMultiverse: The possibility of other Universes beside ours that could have different physical laws, number of dimensions, etc. existing is mentioned in passing. However as we cannot study them physically, for all purposes it is as they did not exist.
* TheStarsAreGoingOut: during the heat death of the universe at an excruciatingly slow pace, over an unimaginably long period of time.

** Either a white dwarf star when it accumulates too much matter from a companion star or a massive star that has ended with an iron core. In both cases, the result is the same: the star goes boom in a supernova, and in a hypernova for the most massive ones UpToEleven.

* DownerEnding.
* EarthThatWas.

* InsignificantLittleBluePlanet: there is no need to say anything else.

* TheMultiverse: The possibility of other Universes beside ours that could have different physical laws, number of dimensions, etc. existing is mentioned in passing. However as we cannot study them physically, for all purposes is as they did not exist.

** Collisions between neutron stars, which produce short duration gamma ray bursts.

** Mergers of brown dwarfs and stellar remnants during the Degenerate Era, that could produce from stars to a supernova or even a gamma-ray burst.

* RecursiveCreators: The Von Neumann probes of the narration that starts Chapter 6, that transforms ''everything'' on both Earth and Mars' surfaces into more probes.

* ColonyDrop: The asteroid impact described in the very first chapter.

* DeathWorld: Earth during the late evolutionary stages of the Sun (no atmosphere, no water, and its surface melted), and after the conversion of the latter into a black dwarf when temperatures plummet almost to absolute zero.

** The gamma-ray burst that causes the worst mass extinction in Earth's history.

** Merger of brown dwarfs and stellar remnants during the Degenerate Era, that could produce from stars to a supernova or even a gamma-ray burst.

** Either a white dwarf star when it accumulates too much matter from a companion star or a massive star that has ended with an iron core. In both cases, the result is the same: the star goes boom in a supernova, and in a hypernova UpToEleven

* MadeOfExplodium: The extremely dense and hot helium core of the red giant Sun once it experiments the helium flash and produces ''as much energy as an entire galaxy'' for a few seconds, before it re-expands and fuses helium much more calmly. Likewise, helium shell flashes during the Sun's second red giant stage.

** The red giant Sun, that will absorb Mercury and possibly Venus too.

* MadeOfExplodium: The extremely dense and hot helium core of the red giant Sun once it experiments the helium flash and produces ''as much energy as an entire galaxy'' for a few seconds, before it expands and fuses helium much more calmly. Likewise, helium shell flashes during the Sun's second red giant stage.

* MadeOfExplodium: The extremely dense and hot helium core of the red giant Sun once it experiments the helium flash and produces ''as much energy as an entire galaxy'' for a few seconds, before it expands and fuses helium much more calmly.

* WaveMotionGun: The collision and fusion of the Milky Way with the Andromeda galaxy has produced a beam of matter and energy that is coming from the merged galaxies' core and will hit Earth…

* MadeofExplodium: The extremely dense and hot helium core of the red giant Sun once it experiments the helium flash and produces ''as much energy as an entire galaxy'' for a few seconds, before it expands and fuses helium much more calmly.

* WeirdSun: The Sun after it has fused all the hydrogen present on its core: as a ssubgiant star, as a red giant, while it's quietly fusing helium on its center, as a red giant again once core helium has been exhausted, and finally as a white dwarf.

* TimeAbyss: The time needed for stars to go out, which pale next for the years will pass before protons decay, not to mention to have black holes evaporating away.

* WeirdSun: The Sun after it has fused all the hydrogen present on its core: as a subgiant, its two red giant stages, in between while it's quietly fusing helium on its core into carbon and oxygen, and finally as a white dwarf.

* DeathWorld: Earth during the late evolutionary stages of the Sun (no atmosphere, no water, and its surface melted.)

** Venus and Earth under the red giant Sun, with the Daystar ''filling the entire sky'' and occupying a significant fraction of it respectively.

** Venus and Earth under a red giant Sun, with the Daystar ''filling the entire sky'' and occupying a significant fraction of it respectively.

** The pitch-black, starless, night sky of a planet orbiting one of the very few stars that could exist in the Degenerate Era.

* EternalRecurrence: Plait suggests the possibility of the false vacuum collapse (see further down) or any other process scientists haven't thought of resetting the Universe and letting a new Big Bang taking place, and so happening again and again. Likewise, if the ekpyrotic Universe scenario is right, the collision of two branes could produce a new Big Bang also re-starting the Universe.

* FusionDance: The Milky Way-Andromeda merger that forms the Milkomeda galaxy.

* DownerEnding

* WaveMotionGun: The collision and fusion of the Milky Way with the Andromeda galaxy has produced a beam of matter and energy is coming from the merged galaxies' core and will hit Earth…

A mix of hard science and science fiction written by the [[http://www.badastronomy.com Bad Astronomer Phil Plait]], ''Death From The Skies!" is a book dedicated to astronomical events that could wipe out humanity.

-->''The Universe is trying to kill you.\\

--->--'''From the introduction.'''

* CosmicHorrorStory: there are things that would make [[Creator/HPLovecraft Cthulhu]] crap its pants... and they're real.

* TheStarsAreGoingOut during the heat death of the universe at an excruciatingly slow pace, over an unimaginably long period of time.

* ItGetsWorse: The solar flare scenario takes place in the dead of winter, knocking out power around the world, and humanity has barely had time to breathe and bury the dead when another nasty-looking patch of sunspots appears...

* CosmicHorror: there are things that would make [[Creator/HPLovecraft Cthulhu]] crap its pants... and they're real.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The book's entire premise is this, but there are some particularly disturbing moments:
** The radiation deaths of the International Space Station crew as the Earth is hit with radiation and debris from a relatively nearby supernova.
** The berserker Von Neumann probe that eats the Earth's entire biosphere, with Earth's entire stock of weaponry presumably unable to stop it... and then it sends off new probes to do it to another planet. The final line of the story section is one of the most chilling lines in the entire book: [[spoiler:"Man's dream of reaching the stars was finally achieved, but not quite in the manner in which he thought."]]
** The excruciating description of the Earth being eaten from within by a tiny black hole the same mass as the planet -- it's even squickier than the scenario of a drive-by scarfing by a more typical black hole, which ''merely'' spaghettifies the Earth over the space of a couple of days.

A mix of hard science and science fiction written by the [[http://www.badastronomy.com Bad Astronomer Phil Plait]], ''Death From The Skies!" is a book dedicated to astronomical events that could wipe out humanity.

* CosmicHorror: there are things that would make [[HPLovecraft Cthulhu]] crap its pants... and they're real.