Earth May Have Been Hit By a Gamma-Ray Burst In 775 AD

Posted by samzenpus on Monday January 21, 2013 @08:39AM from the charlemagne-smash! dept.

The Bad Astronomer writes "Studies of carbon-14 in Japanese trees and beryllium-10 in Antarctic ice indicate the Earth was hit by a big radiation blast in 775 AD. Although very rare, occurring only once every million years or so, the most likely culprit is a gamma-ray burst, a cosmic explosion accompanying the birth of a black hole. While a big solar flare is still in the running, a GRB from merging neutron stars produces the ratio of carbon and beryllium observed, and also can explain why no bright explosion was seen at the time, and no supernova remnant is seen now."

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Re:Umm? How far away would it have been? by tibit · 2013-01-21 09:10 · Score: -1, Offtopic

It's OK to be a prick to name calling AC pricks. Sometimes they need to be taught a lesson.

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Re:Umm? How far away would it have been? by Alex+Belits · 2013-01-21 10:00 · Score: -1, Offtopic

At 4chan they are called fucktards, just like everyone else.

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