A supernova explosion may have led to the mass extinction of many species on Earth about 2.59 million years ago. The results of this study are published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
According to a group of international astrophysicists, a large-scale cosmic release of explosive energy most likely led to the mass extinction of all life on Earth.
Recent astrophysical studies have confirmed that two large stars exploded about 1.7 to 8.7 million years ago at a distance of 100 parsecs from our planet.
During a supernova explosion, a huge amount of high-energy cosmic rays are generated, penetrating the heliosphere, which protects our planet.
As a result of the space catastrophe, the Earth was doused with radioactive radiation, after which traces in the form of iron-60 isotopes remained on the seabed and in the lunar rocks.
Cosmic rays of high energies, which became the culprits of cataclysms, wreak havoc and affect the diversity of species on Earth. According to astrophysicists, supernova explosions could lead to the formation of large amounts of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere, cause acid rain, mass extinction of species, cooling and the onset of the global ice age.
In addition to climate change, these outbreaks could cause an increase in the number of mutations and cancers among living organisms.