Physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have discovered evidence of a supernova that exploded near (on a cosmic scale) Earth around 2 5 million years ago Supernova hits stars with more than ten times the mass of our sun at the end of their life Massive explosion creates heavy elements such as manganese and others
A research team led by physicists at TUM has now confirmed the existence of iron-60 and manganese-53 in the layers of the earth’s manganese crust that are about 25 million years old. increased concentrations of manganese-53 are a ‘smoking gun’, proving that the supernova occurred
If a supernova had occurred very close to Earth, it could have done enormous damage to the planet and any life on the planet at the time.However, this particular supernova was far enough away to that the only side effect is an increase in cosmic rays for several thousand years Researcher Dr Thomas Faestermann says that increasing cosmic rays could lead to increased cloud formation and theorizes that there could be a link with the Pleistocene epoch, the Ice Age period that began 2 years ago. 6 million years
Typically on Earth, manganese occurs only as manganese-55 Manganese-53 comes from cosmic dust, like that found in the asteroid belt of our solar system This dust hits the Earth constantly, but the planet is rarely affected by larger dust particles Researchers say layers of sediment on the seabed preserve the distribution of elements in manganese crust and sediment samples
The team used accelerator mass spectrometry to detect iron-60 and increased levels of manganese-53 in layers deposited around 2 5 million years ago The researchers note that this is an investigative ultra-trace analysis and that they only speak of a few atoms However, accelerator mass spectrometry is sensitive enough that scientists calculate that the mass of the star that exploded must have been around 11 to 25 times the size of the sun
Earth, star, supernova, manganese, crust, betelgium
News from the world – UA – Evidence found of a supernova explosion near Earth 2 There are 5 million years
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
