We’ve got the best time and place to stay in the galaxy … and it’s not here



More and more, it seems that the existence of life on earth is the result of a perpetual destiny. According to a new analysis of the galaxy’s history, the best time and place for the emergence of life is not here or now, but outside the galaxy 6 billion years ago.

The deadly world at that particular location in space and time would have had the best defense against supernovae exploding space with gamma-ray explosions and deadly radiation.

About a billion billion years ago, the central regions of the galaxy (including the solar system) became safer than the outer region – life is safe enough to get out, if not as outer as the outer region.

“Our work shows that billions of years ago, except for the peripheral regions of the galaxy, the planets were subject to many explosive events due to high star formation and low metallicity, capable of mass extinction,” said Ricardo Spanelli and Italini. (IAANF) explained.

Cosmic explosions are no joke. Incredibly energetic events such as gamma-ray explosions and supernovae send cosmic radiation flying from space; The output is so intense that it can be life threatening.

Earth, too, has not been immune. Large-scale extinctions in our history have been associated with supernovae, with the end-Pliocene extinction occurring 2.6 million years ago and the end of the Devion extinction 359 million years ago. Gamma-ray explosions, which are very rare, but more powerful than supernovae, would be just as devastating.

Both events are linked to the life cycle of stars. Supernovae occur when a giant star reaches the end of its main-order lifespan, or when a white dwarf working material becomes unstable, rhinites, and enters a fused fusion. Both scenarios result in a huge explosion of stellar content in space.

There are supposed to be gamma-ray bursts from neutron stars or stars filled in black holes, and we know that neutron stars can come as they merge. We have never really seen a galaxy; What we discover comes millions of years from other galaxies – the most powerful electromagnetic phenomena in the universe.

Scientists believe that a gamma-ray burst 5050 million years ago could have wiped out the Ordovician mass at the age of dinosaurs.

IAANF astronomer Giancarlo Irlanda said supernovae are more common in star-forming regions.

“Gamma-ray bursts, on the other hand, prefer star-forming regions that are still badly surrounded by heavy elements. In these regions, large stars formed by metal-weak gases lose less during their life due to stellar winds. , These stars are able to keep themselves in orbit quickly, once they become black holes, the necessary conditions for the launch of powerful jets.

To find safe places for life, the research team carefully modeled the evolutionary history of the galaxy, focusing on the emergence of the most probable areas of supernova or gamma-ray eruption activity.

His model Dale predicted that the inner regions of the galaxy would form faster than the outer region; Therefore, the inner galaxy would be more active in both star formation and cosmic explosions. Over time, the rate of constellation formation in the inner region slowed, but increased in the outer regions of the galaxy.

When the universe was young, it was mainly filled with hydrogen and helium – gases made up of the first stars. Heavy elements were created from the fusion of the stars of the nucleus; And still heavy elements from supernova explosions.

As the stars lived and died, the Milky Way galaxy became richer with heavier elements and metals.

In turn, this will reduce the frequency of gamma-ray eruptions, making Madhya Pradesh – about 6,500 and 26,000 light-years from the galactic center – safer than before.

“From the Galactic Center, with the exception of Madhya Pradesh, which has less than 50,000 light years, where supernova eruptions occur more frequently, our study suggests that the evolutionary pressure in each age is determined primarily by the GRB,” Spinelli said. “

“Although they are much rarer events than supernovae, GRBs are capable of mass extinction over large distances: since most events are raging events, they are the longest-range arsenals.”

Although the outer region of the Milky Way was once once safer than the Madhya Pradesh, for us, the news gets better. According to the team’s analysis, in the last 500 million years, the outer space of the galaxy would have been sterilized with two to five long gamma-ray explosions. On the other hand, the location of our solar system has become safer than ever before.

But the relative risk and frequent exposure to cosmic explosions may also be appropriate for us.

“We have noted that the existence of life on planet Earth today demonstrates that mass extinction does not impede the possibility of the development of complex life,” the researchers wrote in their paper.

“On the contrary, mass extinction at the right pace could play a crucial role in the evolution of complex life forms on our planet.”

So maybe “safety” needs to be taken with salt grains.

Research has been published in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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