Could a Rotating Supernova Cause Another O-S Extinction?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the potential effects of a rotating supernova and associated gamma ray bursts on Earth, particularly in relation to historical extinction events like the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction. Participants explore the distance required for such astronomical events to pose a significant threat to life on Earth, as well as the implications for interstellar travel.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions how close a Type 1A supernova would need to be to cause significant harm to Earth's ozone layer and life.
  • Another participant cites NASA's claim that a supernova would need to be 26 light-years away to cause significant ozone damage.
  • A different participant argues that a gamma ray burst occurring 100 light-years away would be catastrophic for life on Earth, although they later retract this statement, clarifying the distinction between supernovae and gamma ray bursts.
  • There is mention of a hypernova candidate approximately 3,000 light-years away, with speculation on its potential impact.
  • One participant expresses concern about the possibility of a "dark menace," suggesting that the threat from astronomical events is more pressing than previously considered, advocating for the necessity of interstellar travel.
  • Another participant references a pair of stars, including Wolf-Rayet, theorized to be in a phase before supernova, which could potentially produce a gamma ray burst, located about 8,000 light-years away.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the distances at which supernovae and gamma ray bursts would pose a threat, with some asserting that significant damage could occur at 26 light-years, while others suggest that even greater distances could be lethal. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the exact implications and risks associated with these astronomical phenomena.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the discussion regarding the assumptions made about the effects of supernovae and gamma ray bursts, as well as the definitions of terms like "significant damage" and "catastrophic." The mathematical and physical details surrounding these events are not fully explored.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those studying astrophysics, extinction events, or the implications of astronomical phenomena on life on Earth, as well as individuals involved in the exploration of interstellar travel.

TimeHorse
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Folks,

I'm struggling to write a monograph that details the potential of a rotating supernova directing a gamma ray burst directly at the solar system such that it would strip the Earth of most of its OZone and rain high-energy gamma radiation upon all terrestrial life, similar to as suggested by some for the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordovician–Silurian_extinction_event#Gamma_ray_burst_hypothesis

So my question is how close would a Type 1A supernova have to be if it was aimed directly at us to cause the near extinction of the human race and most mammalian life?
 
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Dr. Barb Mattson is a good friend of mine (You should see her awesome Daisy the Model A page on Facebook) but generally is too busy to help me with these kind of things. I know she's a world-class X-Ray Astronomer though! My thought though is how dangerous could a "dark menace" be. I know a 26-lightyear radius around the Solar System is a very spartan field (about 100 known stars). All that being within Parallax range, even a faint Type 1A would be hard to miss. My reason for asking isn't to assure but to provide a worse-case scenario for a paper I'm contributing to encouraging the development on interstellar travel in the next century. It's a tenuous argument to be sure but more likely than a black hole coming out of nowhere even though we'd barely see that coming and even that that's be aiming for the sun, not for us which is still pretty bad. Hmm. You've given me a lot to think about.
 
Last edited:
soulmartyr said:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2003/0108supernova.html
scientists at NASA say 26 lightyears away to cause significant damage to our ozone.
The closest star from Earth to exceed the Chandrasekhar limit is Spica 260 light years away.


I don't know where you're getting your information from but, you're somewhat wrong because if a gamma ray burst occurred 100 light years away from the Earth you can kiss yourself and everybody you know goodbye because we would all be dead.
 
I retract my last statement, y'all were talking about a supernova blast and I thought you meant a gamma ray burst which I might add is way more deadly and at the same time interesting.
 
I was curious about gamma ray burst in general, and supernova is one possibility, hypernova too but the closest hypernova candidate is IIRC 3 thousand light years from Earth and no-one believes this will cause a problem either. I would again like to consider the worst case scenario though and also I choose gamma ray burst as defuse enough to make the entire solar system uninhabitable as we know it. So no escaping to Mars or Titan, per se. It's to argue that not just interplanetary but interstellar travel is a human imperative because there are some thing bigger and more dangerous than even a Chicxulub. At least, that's the theory. A simple answer would be a rotating black hole that just happens to be knocked in our direction but it would have to be feeding and again we'd see that so I don't think that can sneak up on us any more than a supernova could, even a type 1A Supernova. I'm at a loss to figure out what could "sneak up and zap up" such that it could have been sneaking up on us for millions of years unspotted until zap.
 
I hope we can use space.com, I think I found what ur looking for on it.
http://www.space.com/5081-real-death-star-strike-earth.html
Talks about a pair of stars one named Wolf-Rayet in the constellation Sagittarius.
Wolf-Rayet is theorized to be in the last known stable phase before supernova and has a chance of producing a gamma ray.
This pin-wheel of two stars is about 8,000 light years away.

This backs it up,
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~gekko/pinwheel/tech_faq.html
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140603.html
 

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