Research published in April provided "slam dunk" evidence of two prehistoric supernovae exploding about 300 light years from Earth. Now, a follow-up investigation based on computer modeling shows those supernovae likely exposed biology on our planet to a long-lasting gust of cosmic radiation, which also affected the atmosphere.
"I was surprised to see as much effect as there was," said Adrian Melott, professor of physics at the University of Kansas, who co-authored the new paper appearing The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a peer-reviewed express scientific journal that allows astrophysicists to rapidly publish short notices of significant original research.
"I was expecting there to be very little effect at all," he said. "The supernovae were pretty far way -- more than 300 light years -- that's really not very close."
According to Melott, initially the two stars that exploded 1.7 to 3.2 million and 6.5 to 8.7 million years ago each would have caused blue light in the night sky brilliant enough to disrupt animals' sleep patterns for a few weeks.
But their major effect would have come from radiation, which the KU astrophysicist said would have packed doses equivalent to one CT scan per year for every creature inhabiting land or shallower parts of the ocean.
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