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I wonder at what point we can spot the SMBHs/supernovae that had given rise to our own solar system, opening a whole new chapter in pre-solar history. I guess i

• privong 7y ago
  > I wonder at what point we can spot the SMBHs/supernovae that had given rise to our own solar system Likely never, if you mean an actual supernova remnant that released the enriched material into the interstellar medium. Partly because the formation of the Solar System requires that the enriched material mixes with the ambient gas and cools. That means the supernova remnant would most probably not be identifiable as a distinct entity. The other reason is that there almost certainly isn't a single supernovae that gave rise to the enriched material that formed the Sun and Solar System. The enrichment probably happened through multiple generations of star formation and supernova enrichment cycles.
• at_a_remove 7y ago
  Given a conservative estimate of a quarter of a billion years for the Milky Way to rotate once, and let's imagine two or three supernovae, you'd be looking for a pattern of intersecting ripples in some already scarce interstellar matter smeared out over forty or so galactic revolutions. My guess is that you'd need a pretty good survey of local stellar fragments (black holes, neutron stars, or white dwarfs) and a very, very good survey of the density of local interstellar media. Modeling that "rewinding" would be interesting. I have no idea if we have the data now to accomplish it but that is interesting to think about.