America: The sun that powers the entire world is now old. Old Suraj is now living the last moments of his life. The sun can die at any time. But what will happen to the world if the sun dies?…perhaps the whole world will be destroyed. Everywhere will be immersed in darkness. There will be cataclysm from Earth to all other planets. When the sun explodes, the huge nuclear energy and lava-ash released during that time can create havoc in the universe. According to scientists, the current age of the Sun is 4.6 billion years. The estimated age of the Sun is said to be 5 billion years.
According to scientists, stars like the Sun are remarkably stable. Their brightness varies by only 0.1% over years and decades, thanks to the fusion of hydrogen into helium that powers them. This process will continue to light the Sun for about 5 billion years, but when stars exhaust their nuclear fuel, their deaths can look like fireworks. The Sun will eventually expand and then condense into a type of star called a white dwarf. But stars eight times more massive than the Sun die in explosions called supernovae. Supernovae occur only a few times a century in the galaxy, and these violent explosions are usually so far away that people on Earth don’t notice them.
How will the universe end?
Scientists say that for a dying star to have any impact on life on our planet, it would have to go supernova within 100 light years of Earth. According to an astronomer who studies cosmology and black holes, he describes the threat posed by stellar cataclysms such as supernovae and related events such as gamma-ray bursts. Most of these cataclysms are remote, but when they hit close to home they can pose a threat to life on Earth. Death of a Giant Star Very few stars are massive enough to die in a supernova. But when one does, it is equivalent to the brightness of billions of stars. One supernova every 50 years, and with 100 billion galaxies in the universe, a supernova explosion occurs every one hundredth of a second somewhere in the universe.
Dying star produces gamma radiation
Scientists explain that the dying star emits high energy radiation in the form of gamma rays. Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength is much shorter than that of light waves, meaning they are invisible to the human eye. The dying star also releases a torrent of high-energy particles in the form of cosmic rays. These subatomic particles move close to the speed of light. Supernovae are rare in the Milky Way, but some are so close to Earth that the historical record discusses them. In 185 AD, a star appeared in a place where no star had been seen before. It was probably a supernova. Observers around the world saw a bright star suddenly appear in 1006 AD. Astronomers later matched it to a supernova 7,200 light years away. Then, in 1054 AD, Chinese astronomers recorded a star appearing in the daytime sky that astronomers later identified as a supernova 6,500 light years away.
The last supernova was seen in 1604
Johannes Kepler observed the last supernova in the galaxy in 1604, so statistically, the next supernova could happen at any time. The red supergiant Betelgeuse in the Orion constellation, 600 light-years away, is the nearest giant star that is nearing the end of its life. When it goes supernova, it will be as bright as the full moon to those watching from Earth, without causing any harm to life on our planet. Radiation Damage If a star goes supernova close enough to Earth, the gamma-ray radiation can damage some of the planetary protection that provides the conditions for life on Earth. Due to the limited speed of light it takes time for it to become visible. If a supernova goes 100 light years away, it takes 100 years for us to see it.
There was a supernova explosion 25 lakh years ago
Astronomers have found evidence of a supernova 300 light years away that exploded 2.5 million years ago. Radioactive atoms trapped in seafloor sediments are a clear indication of this event. Gamma ray radiation destroys the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from the Sun’s harmful radiation. This event may have cooled the climate, causing the extinction of some ancient species. Protection from supernovae comes with greater distance. Gamma rays and cosmic rays spread out in all directions after leaving the supernova, so the fraction reaching Earth decreases with greater distance.
For example, imagine two identical supernovae, one of which is 10 times closer to Earth than the other. Earth will receive radiation approximately a hundred times more intense than that from the nearest supernova. A supernova within 30 light years would be devastating, severely depleting the ozone layer, disrupting the marine food chain and likely causing mass extinction of life. (The Conversation)
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