If a supernova explosion were to occur within about 25 light-years of Earth, our planet would probably lose its atmosphere, and all life would perish. However, astronomers haven't found any dangerous supernova candidates in our cosmic backyard, so there's no reason to worry.
X-rays and more energetic gamma rays from the supernova could destroy the ozone layer that protects us from solar ultraviolet rays. It also could ionize nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, leading to the formation of large amounts of smog-like nitrous oxide.
After a core collapse supernova, all that remains is a dense core and hot gas called a nebula. When stars are especially large, the core collapses into a black hole. Otherwise, the core becomes an ultra-dense neutron star.
At about 20 million light-years from Earth, we're in absolutely no danger from SN 2023ixf. It's reckoned that the “kill zone” around a supernova is about 50 light-years. Within that, any planets might be subject to gamma rays that destroy the ozone layer, with ultraviolet radiation from the sun then extinguishing life.
Yes, absolutely. A supernova would annihilate anything within its blast zone. A that includes really big planets.
A hypernova — sometimes called a collapsar — is a particularly energetic core-collapse supernova. Scientists think a hypernova occurs when stars more than 30 times the mass of the Sun quickly collapse into a black hole. The resulting explosion is 10 to 100 times more powerful than a supernova.
Mercury, Venus and Earth will be gone, but Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will survive and continue to go around the sun. So will the asteroid belt, Kuiper belt and dwarf planets like Pluto. Because a white dwarf is small, it doesn't produce as much light.
By the time the energy from Betelgeuse's supernova reaches Earth, it would have significantly weakened. Scientists estimate that even a supernova occurring within 25 light-years would not pose a direct threat to our planet. Supernovae emit various forms of radiation, including gamma rays.
Scientists estimate that the planet would be roughly 15 times hotter than the surface of the Sun currently is. Far above the boiling point of any known material, and much hotter than any human can withstand (obviously). At best, the Earth would take a few days to vaporize.
Supernovas are created during the last moments of a star's life. These gigantic explosions can wipe out galaxies and the planets inside them. Should we be concerned about one being too close to our Solar System?
A hypernova (sometimes called a collapsar) is a very energetic supernova thought to result from an extreme core-collapse scenario. In this case, a massive star (>30 solar masses) collapses to form a rotating black hole emitting twin energetic jets and surrounded by an accretion disk.
It is estimated that a Type II supernova closer than eight parsecs (26 light-years) would destroy more than half of the Earth's ozone layer. Such estimates are based on atmospheric modeling and the measured radiation flux from SN 1987A, a Type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The catastrophic blast was 10 times stronger and brighter than a typical supernova. Scientists have found evidence of a rare, gargantuan stellar explosion, dating to the earliest days of the universe — less than a billion years after the Big Bang.
A kilonova is smaller, by a factor of 10 to 100, so 420 to 430 decibels, and a hypernova (really just a very large supernova) might be bigger by a factor of 10, so about 450 decibels.
One of the causes for the Ordovician mass extinction was an excess of gamma rays, predicted to be caused by a star going HYPERNOVA (from Wikipedia), 6,000 lightyears away, so the safe range is likely about 1000 for smaller hypernovas and for larger ones, up to 10,000 or 25,000.
When supernovae explode, they jettison matter into space at some 9,000 to 25,000 miles (15,000 to 40,000 kilometers) per second. These blasts produce much of the material in the universe—including some elements, like iron, which make up our planet and even ourselves.
The nearest known black hole is Gaia BH1, which was discovered in September 2022 by a team led by Kareem El-Badry. Gaia BH1 is 1,560 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus.
Finally, the most probable fate of the planet is absorption by the Sun in about 7.5 billion years, after the star has entered the red giant phase and expanded beyond the planet's current orbit.
In approximately five billion years, our own sun will transition to the red giant phase. When it expands, its outer layers will consume Mercury and Venus and also reach Earth. Scientists are still debating whether or not our planet will be engulfed, or whether it will orbit dangerously close to the red giant sun.
Unfortunately, supernovae visible to the naked eye are rare. One occurs in our galaxy every few hundred years, so there is no guarantee you will ever see one in our galaxy in your lifetime. In 1987, a supernova called 1987A was visible in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Betelgeuse will, eventually, go supernova. However, scientists expect this isn't likely to happen for about another 100,000 years, at which point Betelgeuse will become either a neutron star or black hole.
But everything actually in Alpha Centauri would fair far worse than our own solar system. At such a close proximity to the supernova, the effects - including the emission of almost immeasurably, super-heated atoms - would hit nearby planets, moons and asteroids in a matter of minutes rather than years.
So what will happen to the Sun? In some 6 billion years it will end up as a white dwarf — a small, dense remnant of a star that glows from leftover heat. The process will start about 5 billion years from now when the Sun begins to run out of fuel.