CERN Colloquium

Radioactive Iron Rain: Evidence of a Nearby Supernova Explosion

Name: Radioactive Iron Rain: Evidence of a Nearby Supernova Explosion
Start: 2016-06-30T16:30:00+02:00
End: 2016-06-30T17:30:00+02:00
Location: CERN

by Jonathan R. Ellis (University of London (GB))

Thursday 30 Jun 2016, 16:30 → 17:30 Europe/Zurich

503/1-001 - Council Chamber (CERN)

503/1-001 - Council Chamber

CERN

162

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Description

A very close supernova explosion could have caused a mass extinction of life in Earth. In 1996, Brian Fields, the late Dave Schramm and the speaker proposed looking for unstable isotopes such as Iron 60 that could have been deposited by a recent nearby supernova explosion. A group from the Technical University of Munich has discovered Iron 60 in deep-ocean sediments and ferromanganese crusts due to one or more supernovae that exploded O(100) parsecs away about 2.5 million years ago. These results have recently been confirmed by a group from the Australian National University, and the Munich group has also discovered supernova Iron 60 in lunar rock samples. This talk will discuss the interpretation of these results in terms of supernova models, and the possible implications for life on Earth.

Organised by

W. Lerche/TH-SP........ Tea and coffee will be served at 16h00

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Radioactive Iron Rain: Evidence of a Nearby Supernova Explosion

by Jonathan R. Ellis (University of London (GB))

503/1-001 - Council Chamber

CERN