Sage-Tips

What would happen if the Earth was hit by a gamma-ray burst?

With the gamma-rays beamed directly at Earth, the radiation would destroy a significant portion of our atmosphere, specifically the ozone layer. The photons streaming from the burst would cause chemical reactions leading to photochemical smog. This would further deplete our protection from cosmic rays.

What is the range of a gamma-ray burst?

Gamma-ray bursts , or GRBs , are flashes of gamma radiation related to extreme energetic explosions detected in very distant galaxies. GRBs are the brightest electromagnetic events known to occur in the Universe. These GRBs can range from ten milliseconds to several minutes.

What would happen if a gamma-ray burst hit the sun?

So, if a gamma ray burst created somewhere nearby in our galaxy hits the Sun, we would not care much about what happened to it, because humanity would most probably die. But in general not much would happen: the gammas would be absorbed by the Sun heating it somewhat and that’s the end of the story.

Is there a gamma-ray burst pointed at Earth?

A gamma-ray burst pointed directly at the Earth would probably lead to a mass extinction event and the end of civilization as we know it. Gamma-ray bursts have been seen far away, however. The paper suggesting researchers had discovered a new gamma-ray burst in the most distant known galaxy was published in 2020.

Did a gamma-ray burst cause a mass extinction?

440-million-year-old fossils hint at cosmic explosion. Some 440 million years ago, a nearby gamma-ray burst may have extinguished much of life on Earth, say US astronomers1. This has been put forward as the cause of the mass extinction two million years ago. …

When was the last gamma-ray burst?

The blast lasted just 0.65 seconds, although after traveling for eons through the expanding universe, this signal had stretched out to about 1 second long when it was detected on Aug. 26, 2020, by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

What would happen if Earth was hit by a quasar?

The illumination from a quasar, along with all the radiation it throws off, would mess with Earth’s atmosphere. The light is enough to energize particles that make up the atmosphere and frees them from Earth’s gravity. And we really need our gravity. Without it, Our atmosphere would be destroyed.

What if a star hit the earth?

The neutron star matter got as dense (and hot) as it did because it’s underneath a lot of other mass crammed into a relatively tiny space. A spoonful of neutron star suddenly appearing on Earth’s surface would cause a giant explosion, and it would probably vaporize a good chunk of our planet with it.

What are the odds of a gamma-ray burst hitting Earth?

The scientists discovered the chance that a long gamma-ray burst could trigger mass extinctions on Earth was 50 percent in the past 500 million years, 60 percent in the past 1 billion years, and more than 90 percent in the past 5 billion years.

What is a gamma-ray burst and how dangerous is it?

Of all the cosmic catastrophes that could affect our planet, an attack by radiation from a gamma-ray burst is certainly one of the most extreme. GRBs, as they’re called, are powerful events that release huge amounts of gamma rays.

Could a gamma-ray burst affect the evolution of life on Earth?

Certainly, a gamma-ray burst could affect life’s DNA, causing genetic damage long after the burst is over. If such a thing happened in Earth’s history, it could well have altered the evolution of life on our planet.

What is the most powerful gamma ray ever observed?

In November 2019, astronomers reported a notable gamma ray burst explosion, named GRB 190114C, initially detected in January 2019, which, so far, produced gamma-rays with the highest energy – about 1 Tera electron volts (Tev) – ever observed for such a cosmic event.

What is the distribution of gamma-ray bursts detected by BATSE?

Positions on the sky of all gamma-ray bursts detected during the BATSE mission. The distribution is isotropic, with no concentration towards the plane of the Milky Way, which runs horizontally through the center of the image.

A nearby gamma ray burst could also trigger smog formation that’s capable of blocking out a percentage of our sunlight, potentially cooling the planet down exponentially. In this scenario, gamma rays would break apart nitrogen molecules in our air and transform them into nitrogen dioxide, which has a reddish-brown hue.

How dangerous are gamma rays to humans?

These are among the most deadly radiation known. If a person happened to be near a gamma-ray producing object, they’d be fried in an instant. Certainly, a gamma-ray burst could affect life’s DNA, causing genetic damage long after the burst is over.

What would happen if the sun burst into outer space?

The photons streaming from the burst would cause chemical reactions leading to photochemical smog. This would further deplete our protection from cosmic rays . Then there are the lethal doses of radiation that surface life would experience. The end result would be mass extinctions of most species of life on our planet.

How safe are we from gamma ray bursts (GRBs)?

So, while GRBs are some of the most powerful events in the universe, with the power to devastate life on any planets in its path, we are generally very safe. Astronomers observe GRBs with orbiting spacecraft, such as the FERMI mission.