The closest to the Earth supernova caused the mass extinction 2.6 million years ago
Source:
Flash is a phenomenon that marks the end of the life cycle of a massive star, which is accompanied by a sharp increase in its brightness. However, thanks to supernova appeared all life on Earth, including us. Thus, the atoms in your right hand, originated in the bowels of the long-dead stars, and the atoms in your left hand – in the depths of the other. However, despite all the poetry and beauty of this phenomenon, the explosion of a supernova close to Earth can cause . It happened about 2.6 million years ago – the explosion of one of these stars lit up the sky of our planet from a distance of about 150 light years. Several hundred years later when the new star had disappeared from the sky, cosmic rays reached Earth. Recently, scientists have discovered that this cosmic phenomenon is associated with the mass extinction of animals, wander while in the the surface of our planet. A study published in the journal .
According to the press release of the study that was recently documented «marine megafauna extinction» coincides with the arrival of potentially lethal radiation flux emanating from a supernova close to Earth. This outbreak, scientists believe, led to the fact that about 36% of the species (including Megalodon), inhabiting the coastal waters extinct. Researchers believe that deadly radiation reached Earth in the form of cosmic rays, consisting of fast moving muons – elementary particles with a negative charge whose mass is several hundred times greater than the mass of the electron.
Based on the hit rate of muons on the Ground in the supernova explosion, scientists estimate that if this event took place in our time, the risk of developing cancer of the representatives would be increased by about 50%. And because high-energy muons can penetrate deep under the water, they could have a deadly effect on marine life, causing them . The publication quotes the study authors that the muons a few hundred times the mass of the electron and penetrate everywhere. Today, many muons pass through us without causing any harm, but about one-fifth of the radiation dose received by man, falls on them. But why, the researchers decided that the cause of the mass extinctions were the muons?
it looks like hunting Megalodon in the representation of the artist
How is the explosion of a supernova with the mass extinction of wildlife?
Traces of a supernova explosion have become discovered deposits of the isotope of iron-60 is a radioactive isotope of iron, which, if it were included in the Land at the time of its formation, would have long disintegrated. And researchers recently found traces of the isotope-60 in samples of the earth's crust, collected in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. The only source of this isotope reservoirs in the depths of our planet can be an explosion of stars. But where it came from so close to the Ground?
As the authors write, is inside what astronomers call the local bubble or local – is a relatively empty region of interstellar space. In total the local bubble is an area with a width of 300 light years, which is filled with hot gas, and cold is limited. Researchers believe that such bubbles and their in our region of the galaxy a lot, was the result of supernova explosions, the energy from which can sweep away everything in its path, and what is left is to heat, forming a bubble.
Local bubble, photo source NASA
However, the scientists do not exclude that local appeared in the explosion of several supernovae, which also caused the deposition of the isotope iron-60 in the bowels of our planet. Moreover, it is possible that the local bubble could increase the amount of radioactive rays, its boundaries could reflect light, creating a sort of «a bath of cosmic rays».
In General, the results showed that the supernova that erupted 2.6 million years ago, may be related to the extinction of marine megafauna on the border of the Pliocene and Pleistocene. The organisms that lived in coastal waters received the largest share , since with increasing depth of the damage muons decreased.
This composite image shows the supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219, which may have caused mass extinction on Earth. The obtained with the radio telescope of the Observatory of the European space Agency's Chandra
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