Supernova particles found on Earth

The rest of the stellar explosion that occurred about 3 million years ago turned up to the Earth. Physicists from the Technical University of Munich found the remains of a supernova in the soil sediment on the deep sea floor.

The trail is iron-60 isotope that can not be formed in the Earth. Researchers found samples from the seabed eastern Pacific Ocean in 2004. Layer of the sample was estimated 1.7 to 3.3 million years old.

Oceanic sediment contains an iron isotope that ancient bacteria accumulated 2.2 million years ago when debris rained on Earth from a supernova explosion. Shown are the remnants of a much younger supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A, shown in a composite image from three NASA observatories. (Picture from: http://www.nature.com/)

Samples were mixed with special chemicals to separate the isotopes. For nearly a decade, radioactive laboratory endlessly explore the unusual atomic age using a mass spectrometer. Search results were announced at the meeting of the American Physical Society in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday 14 April 2013.

Iron isotopes are entrails spilled by the explosion of a star about 2.2 million years ago. "The star that explodes is neighboring the sun," said Shawn Bishop, a physics researchers from the Technical University of Munich.

Remnant of a star that exploded was smaller than dust. The fine particles fly to various parts of the approaching light speed. Earth being one of the locations of flight the star dust. One such material is dust-borne iron isotopes. When it falls on the earth, devoured by the isotope iron-eating bacteria and preserved until now. Iron-eating bacteria assemble isotope iron-60 into a compound magnetite Fe304.

So far, experts have not found a neighboring star star sun burst 2.2 million years ago. However, in a scientific paper, Bishop suspected supernova ever occurred in the area of ​​Scorpius-Centaurus group. This group is located about 424 light years from Earth.

Alleged starbursts still require supporting evidence. If the supernova ever come to earth, should find plenty of iron-60 in fossils. One of the fossils is sought is an iron-eating bacteria that produces nanometer-sized magnetic crystals (billionth of a meter). This crystal is used by bacteria to line up Earth's magnetic field.

Bishop is now working hard in the lab in order to study the ocean floor next sample. He hopes to find the isotope iron-60 as in the previous sample. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | NATURE | ANTON WILLIAM | KORAN TEMPO 4203]

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