web counter
LEXO PA REKLAMA!

SHKARKO APP

App Store
Google Play

Scientists warn/ A rare type of space explosion could wipe out life on Earth

2023-11-02 17:29:00, Kosova & Bota CNA
Scientists warn/ A rare type of space explosion could wipe out life on Earth
Scientists have warned that a rare type of space explosion known as a kilonova could wipe out life on Earth

There is a sinister threat from space that actually has its roots in science.

The cosmic explosion has the potential to wipe out life on Earth for 'thousands of years', a new study has warned.

A kilonova (cosmic explosion) occurs when two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole collide and merge, producing a burst of gamma rays that lasts only a few seconds.

"We found that if a neutron star merger were to occur within about 36 light-years of Earth, the resulting radiation could cause an extinction-level event," Haille Perkins, a scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told Space.

First it is important to note that the risk of such an explosion occurring within that distance is very low, the nearest known neutron stars are more than 400 light years from our planet.

But the reason it could wipe out humanity, scientists say, is because the type of radiation caused by gamma rays carries enough energy to strip electrons from atoms in a process called ionization. 

Once the rays reach us, they can destroy the Earth's ozone layer and expose us to lethal doses of ultraviolet radiation from the sun for thousands of years.

However, the burst would have to occur within 36 light years of our planet for the gamma rays to extend that far./ CNA





Lajmet e fundit nga