Posted on 03/03/2009 9:58:29 PM PST by rdl6989
A newly examined ice core shows what may be the chemical traces of supernovae that exploded a thousand years ago.
Yuko Motizuki of the RIKEN research institute in Wako, Japan, and colleagues analysed the nitrate content of an ice core drilled at Dome Fuji station in Antarctica. Nitrate is produced in the atmosphere by nitrogen oxides, which in turn should be created by the gamma radiation from a supernova.
Motizuki's group found high nitrate concentrations in three thin layers about 50 metres deep. Because snow gradually builds up into layers of ice, depth indicates age.
After calibrating this icy calendar using chemical markers laid down by known volcanic eruptions, the team found that one nitrate spike is close to the year 1054, when Chinese observers saw a bright supernova. That explosion left behind the Crab Nebula and pulsar. Another spike is close to 1006, the year of an even brighter supernova. Unseen supernova?
The third nitrate spike is around the year 1060, when no supernova was reported. The authors suggest that it might be the result of a supernova in the less-well observed southern hemisphere or one that was hidden behind a dark interstellar cloud and therefore went unnoticed.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
I thought you might be interested in this.
Fascinating. Thanks.
You’re welcome :D
Very interesting.
But I thought the ice was melting, not building uo.
/s
up
bump
Kinda weird that their reporting a possible THREE supernova within the course of 54 years in ice measuring thousands of years.
The other two could be from gamma ray bursters. Most of these are detected outside of our galaxy but if one, say, 50000 light years away had been pointed our way it would not have been powerful enough to hurt life. It still would make a detectable change.
The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes:
Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization
by Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith
Two Catastrophe ScenariosAbout 2.2 million years ago, a chunk of space debris about a kilometer in diameter splashed down in the Bellingshausen Sea between Antarctica and South America. It was some splash! The splash zone was about 20 kilometers across, waves 4 kilometers high raced away from Ground Zero, and a column of salt water ascended miles high into the upper atmosphere. The TNT equivalent is estimated at 12 billion tons. Ice clouds formed and shaded the planet, causing severe climate changes. On the floor of the Bellingshausen Sea, 5 kilometers deep, lies the Eltanin Impact Structure.
by William Corliss
the team found that one nitrate spike is close to the year 1054, when Chinese observers saw a bright supernova. That explosion left behind the Crab Nebula and pulsar. Another spike is close to 1006, the year of an even brighter supernova. Unseen supernova? The third nitrate spike is around the year 1060, when no supernova was reported.Wow, thanks rdl6989, definitely interested!
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Sure was!
Actually, it’s something like Dr. V, because of the citation of (but not specifically reliance upon) possible folkloric references to the impact events the authors and others (including the first guy to find evidence and begin to grasp its significance; he’s from Michigan, but he and one of the authors parted ways) reconstructed from empirical data. Definitely worth reading, I predict you *will* enjoy it and be fascinated by it.
I read it, you’ll like it.
Thanks. I’ll get me a copy.
So the Ice has been getting deeper for at least 1,000 years.
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