Jakarta –
It doesn’t have to be hit by an asteroid, Earth It can also be destroyed simply by radiation emitted from a neutron star collision event called Kilonova. A neutron star is the collapsed stellar core of a massive supergiant star.
In more detail, this collision occurred between a pair of neutron stars which caused a momentary emission of radiation. This radiation consists of x rays, cosmic rays and gamma rays. Indeed, this kilonova occurs in space, but the radiation emitted can reach Earth and is very, very destructive.
“We found that if a neutron star merger occurred within about 36 light years of Earth, the resulting radiation could cause an extinction-level event,” said Haille Perkins, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.
The reason is, this neutron star is so dense. If you take just one teaspoon of it, the weight can reach 1 billion tons, aka 1 trillion kg. That way, the particle explosion can erode the Earth’s ozone layer so that ultraviolet radiation will be more susceptible to entering for 1000 years.
“Specific safety distances and the most dangerous components cannot be determined because most of the effects depend on several factors such as the angle of view of the event, the energy of the explosion, the mass of ejected material, and more,” Haille was quoted as saying detikINET from New York Post, Friday (03/11/2023)
Scientists say cosmic rays are the particles that cause the most concern. Please note, collisions between stars will trigger cosmic ray bubbles to expand and envelop everything in their path. These high energy charged particles will also rain down on Earth.
In addition, gamma rays can actually burn up celestial objects approximately 297 light years away in their path. Meanwhile, in the case on Earth, indirect radiation alone can dissolve ozone significantly and it will take 4 years for Earth to recover.
X-ray emissions are created from collisions between gamma rays and surrounding star dust. This could have the same impact as gamma ray radiation on the Earth’s ozone layer. The effects can even be longer than gamma rays, but Earth would have to be about 16 light years away from the radiation.
Previously, scientists studied the neutron star collision that occurred in 2017, but it was still around 130 million light years away which only ejected particles with a mass of 1300 Earth.
Scientists believe that by observing Kilonova, they can get clues about the origin of the formation of heavy elements on Earth, such as platinum, uranium and gold.
*This article was written by Khalisha Fitri, a participant in the Merdeka Campus Certified Internship Program at detikcom.
Watch the video “BMKG on Earthquake-Tsunami Mitigation: Not Relying Enough on Technology”
(fyk/fyk)
2023-11-04 22:45:28
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