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Can a Supernova Cause Mass Extinction?

te_platt 8y ago
It's nice to read an article like this that doesn't try to invent some controversy. It looks like a supernova could cause a disruption large enough to cause an extinction. No, there's not enough evidence to say it actually. Yes, it is an interesting idea and if anyone has anything to add go for it. A good story has some fight in it. Not every theory does and that's ok.
asah 8y ago
q: could this affect the Drake equation, i.e. if supernovae happen every X years could this partly account for the absence of life?
macintux 8y ago
One of those rare scientific questions where I hope we never have a definitive answer.
jrue 8y ago
All the ways extinction is possible helps to answer Fermi’s paradox. Asteroids, nuclear war, disease, supernova, etc. I was just reading that NASA is getting closer to its [asteroid defense system](https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart). It’s like civilizations are in a race to get technologically advanced enough to protect against all the ways they can be extinguished. I imagine we would one day catalog all of the potential supernovas near us to a high degree of certainty. Hopefully, if we found an imminent one, we would be advanced enough to take mitigating steps or just leave the planet.
- erik_landerholm 8y ago
  Also volcanos and huge solar storms. I think they are underestimated, at least on earth for causing local and mass exinctions. We don’t really have any defense for most of these and nothing on the horizon. :shrug
- mr_toad 8y ago
  Only if the mass extinctions happen fast/regularly enough. We don’t really know how long it takes for intelligence to evolve, or how long a interstellar civilisation to develop, since we only have one example of the former and zero of the latter.
grawprog 8y ago
To be honest, my first thought before reading the article was: Well...yeah...I'd assume if your sun went supernova you'd probably go extinct. The article was a nice read though. I've read a few thing claiming similar theories, but it was usually amongst a bunch of fairly unscientific ummm...stuff...to put it nicely.... It was nice to see the idea explained in a logical scientific way that made sense.
- ChuckMcM 8y ago
  No one disputes that one, if the Sun turned into a super nova it would definitely take out the Earth :-). And we know that a star going nova in the Large Magellanic Cluster (nearest galaxy to the Milkyway) would not cause one[1], so we've got a set of boundary conditions to start with. Next step is to iterate between those extremes to come up with a more accurate answer. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A
cletus 8y ago
Isn't this one of those things that's obviously true? For one thing, supernovae can release gamma ray bursts, which could easily sterilize a region of space. For another, the ejection of material itself could directly affect nearby systems. Personally I think the more interesting aspects is how, in a certain way, supernovae are _needed_ for complex life as this largely seems to be the source for elements heavier than iron. Isn't it kind of amazing that there's a bunch of material on earth that only exists because of supernovae and even the merger of neutron stars?
- sbuttgereit 8y ago
  I think the title of the article is rather poor. It should have been called something like, "Could Past Supernovae Have Caused Historic Mass Extinctions?", Which is really what the article is concerned with. Granted, not nearly so catchy and not nearly so evocative of pending events....
  - golemotron 8y ago
    Interesting fact: We can tell the headline is inaccurate without looking at the article because it violates Betteridge’s Law of Headlines. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headli...
HoochieKoo 8y ago
Mutations? Perhaps this is the way humans came about?

It's nice to read an article like this that doesn't try to invent some controversy. It looks like a supernova could cause a disruption large enough to cause an extinction. No, there's not enough evidence to say it actually. Yes, it is an interesting idea and if anyone has anything to add go for it. A good story has some fight in it. Not every theory does and that's ok.

asah 8y ago

q: could this affect the Drake equation, i.e. if supernovae happen every X years could this partly account for the absence of life?

macintux 8y ago

One of those rare scientific questions where I hope we never have a definitive answer.

jrue 8y ago

All the ways extinction is possible helps to answer Fermi’s paradox. Asteroids, nuclear war, disease, supernova, etc. I was just reading that NASA is getting closer to its [asteroid defense system](https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart). It’s like civilizations are in a race to get technologically advanced enough to protect against all the ways they can be extinguished. I imagine we would one day catalog all of the potential supernovas near us to a high degree of certainty. Hopefully, if we found an imminent one, we would be advanced enough to take mitigating steps or just leave the planet.

erik_landerholm 8y ago
Also volcanos and huge solar storms. I think they are underestimated, at least on earth for causing local and mass exinctions. We don’t really have any defense for most of these and nothing on the horizon. :shrug
mr_toad 8y ago
Only if the mass extinctions happen fast/regularly enough. We don’t really know how long it takes for intelligence to evolve, or how long a interstellar civilisation to develop, since we only have one example of the former and zero of the latter.

grawprog 8y ago

To be honest, my first thought before reading the article was: Well...yeah...I'd assume if your sun went supernova you'd probably go extinct. The article was a nice read though. I've read a few thing claiming similar theories, but it was usually amongst a bunch of fairly unscientific ummm...stuff...to put it nicely.... It was nice to see the idea explained in a logical scientific way that made sense.

ChuckMcM 8y ago
No one disputes that one, if the Sun turned into a super nova it would definitely take out the Earth :-). And we know that a star going nova in the Large Magellanic Cluster (nearest galaxy to the Milkyway) would not cause one[1], so we've got a set of boundary conditions to start with. Next step is to iterate between those extremes to come up with a more accurate answer. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A

cletus 8y ago

Isn't this one of those things that's obviously true? For one thing, supernovae can release gamma ray bursts, which could easily sterilize a region of space. For another, the ejection of material itself could directly affect nearby systems. Personally I think the more interesting aspects is how, in a certain way, supernovae are _needed_ for complex life as this largely seems to be the source for elements heavier than iron. Isn't it kind of amazing that there's a bunch of material on earth that only exists because of supernovae and even the merger of neutron stars?

sbuttgereit 8y ago
I think the title of the article is rather poor. It should have been called something like, "Could Past Supernovae Have Caused Historic Mass Extinctions?", Which is really what the article is concerned with. Granted, not nearly so catchy and not nearly so evocative of pending events....
- golemotron 8y ago
  Interesting fact: We can tell the headline is inaccurate without looking at the article because it violates Betteridge’s Law of Headlines. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headli...

HoochieKoo 8y ago

Mutations? Perhaps this is the way humans came about?