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First Evidence of Supernovae Found In Ice Cores

KentuckyFC writes "Supernovae in our part of the Milky Way ought to have a significant impact on the atmosphere. In particular, the intense gamma-ray burst would ionize oxygen and nitrogen in the mid to upper atmosphere, increasing the levels of nitrogen oxide there by an order of magnitude or so. Now a team of Japanese researchers has found the first evidence of a supernova's impact on the atmosphere in an ice core taken from Dome Fuji in Antarctica. The team examined ice that was laid down in the 11th century and found three nitrogen oxide spikes, two of which correspond to well known supernovae: one event in 1006 AD and another in 1054 AD, which was the birth of the Crab Nebula (abstract). Both were widely reported by Chinese and Arabic astronomers at the time. The third spike is unexplained, but the team suggests it may have been caused by a supernova visible only from the southern hemisphere or one that was obscured by interstellar dust."

4 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Point of View by ChinggisK · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmm... "birth of the Crab Nebula" or "death of the Great Crab Civilization"?

    You decide.

    1. Re:Point of View by MichaelSmith · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmm... "birth of the Crab Nebula" or "death of the Great Crab Civilization"? You decide.

      Yet another thing for Dr Zoidberg to be neurotic about.

  2. Re:The Crab Nebula wasn't born in 1054 AD by Cyberax · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's because it's CORRECT. There's no such thing as 'absolute time'.

    1054AD _was_ the time of birth of the Crab Nebula from _our_ point of view.

  3. Re:The Crab Nebula wasn't born in 1054 AD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You seem very confused about reference frames. There's no "fixed" time reference for the universe, so it seems perfectly reasonable to use the one on Earth where all the readers live. Sure it give jerks like you something to complain about, but the rest of us understand exactly.