The solar system, along with other star systems, is on its way around the galactic core, and the universe it passes through cannot be considered downright empty. On the contrary, from the point of view of scientists at the Australian National University who study the isotopes found on the ocean floor, we often find ourselves in the middle of material that our Earth captures and enriches with.
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the remnants of a supernova explosion captured by the Chandra telescope
These are specific isotopes and, above all, iron-60, which has a half-life of only 2.6 million years, which simply means that all the iron-60 that may have been on Earth at the time of its formation no longer exists and remains after only stable nickel. The isotope must come from another source, and it is the explosions of supernovae that left behind the material that the solar system then passed through. And that iron-60 has been found on the ocean floor in places isolated from the potential impact of human activity, it is clear that it comes from outside the Earth and our system.
The sediment layers on the ocean floor serve as a time record in which Australian scientists have found two significant increases in iron-60 concentrations, indicating relatively close supernova explosions, the remains of which can now be found several hundred light-years away. It was in places of higher concentration of this isotope that they decided to look further and also discovered a smaller but distinct volume of the isotope plutonium-244. It is a relatively stable isotope with a half-life of 80 million years.
It is with regard to plutonium-244 that the scientific community does not agree on its origin, ie whether a supernova explosion is enough for its creation, or whether it requires a much wilder event, such as the collision of an object with a neutron star. However, the discovery of plutonium-244 at sites of iron-60 concentration is the first strong evidence to support that it is caused by a supernova explosion. However, this may also be a work of chance, because plutionium-244 may have been interstellar material before, so that only the remnants of a supernova explosion may be mixed into it, that is, as usual, more evidence must come before we can talk about a compelling theory.
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