Kilonova Space Explosion Could End Life On Earth, Predict Scientists

According to a recent study, US scientists have highlighted that violent collisions between stars, known as Kilonovas, have the potential to cause significant harm to our planet due to the release of lethal radiation, including gamma rays, cosmic rays, and x-rays. If a neutron star merger were to take place within approximately 36 light-years of Earth, the resulting radiation could trigger an extinction-level event, says Haille Perkins, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Kilonovas are produced when ultra-dense neutron stars, where a teaspoon of material would weigh about one billion tons, collide, resulting in a particle blast that could destroy Earth’s ozone layer and make it susceptible to ultraviolet radiation for the next 1,000 years.

The precise safety distance and the most dangerous components are uncertain and depend on factors like the viewing angle of the event, the energy of the blast, the mass of ejected material, and other variables. Cosmic rays are considered one of the most significant threats, as the collision would create an expanding bubble of cosmic rays that could envelop Earth and shower it with highly energetic charged particles.

Gamma rays are also a concern, emitting as two narrow jets from the merger, capable of damaging celestial objects in their path for an estimated 297 light-years. Even indirect exposure to gamma radiation could harm Earth’s ozone layer and take about four years to recover.
Moreover, gamma ray interactions with surrounding star dust, or the interstellar medium, can lead to X-ray emissions with a similar ionizing effect on the ozone layer. These effects last longer than those of gamma rays but would require Earth to be closer, approximately 16 light years away, to be significantly impacted.

However, the researchers also emphasized that while the effects of these impacts may be longer-lasting compared to gamma rays, Earth would need to be within approximately 16 light-years of the event’s epicenter to experience these consequences. Therefore, there’s no immediate cause for concern, as Kilonovas are relatively rare events.

It’s worth noting that there are other more common cosmic occurrences, such as solar flares, asteroid impacts, and supernova explosions, which pose a more immediate threat, according to Perkins.