Nearby Supernova Causes Mass Extinction?

Posted by michael on Thursday January 8, 2004 @05:24AM from the theoretically-speaking dept.

hcg50a writes "AP has a story on Yahoo about a theory that a blast of gamma rays from a distant supernova destroyed the earth's ozone layer, allowing normally shielded intense UV radiation from the sun to kill life on earth. The second-largest extinction in the Earth's history, the killing of two-thirds of all species, may have been caused by ultraviolet radiation from the sun after gamma rays destroyed the Earth's ozone layer. Astronomers are proposing that a supernova exploded within 10,000 light years of the Earth, destroying the chemistry of the atmosphere and allowing the sun's ultraviolet rays to cook fragile, unprotected life forms."

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Re:Of course by Pembers · 2004-01-08 05:44 · Score: 3, Informative

IANAP, but as I understand it, our own sun is too small to go supernova.

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Just another wannabe fantasy novelist...
Re:Of course by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-08 05:59 · Score: 5, Informative

You're right. Our sun is a dwarf star. It's death will be marked by expansion into a giant red star, then compression into a small core of oxygen and carbon, and finally lights out. Check out the BBC's page on the death of stars.