The hypothesis that one or more biodiversity drops in the Phanerozoic eon, evident in the geological record, might have been caused by the most powerful kind of stellar explosion so […]
astro-ph.HE
Posted inExtinction events, Press Release
Gamma Rays from UltraCompact Minihaloes: Effects on the Earth's Atmosphere and Links to Mass Extinction Events
Recent studies of the effects on the Earth’s atmosphere by astrophysical sources, such as nearby gamma-ray bursts or supernovae, have shown that these events could lead to severe changes in […]
Posted inPress Release, SETI & Technosignatures
Lens Flare: Magnified X-Ray Binaries as Passive Beacons in SETI
Low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) containing neutron stars are both extremely luminous and compact, emitting up to ~10^6 L_sun within a kilometer-scale boundary layer. This combination allows for easy modulation, […]
Posted inPress Release, SETI & Technosignatures
The Breakthrough Listen Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
The discovery of the ubiquity of habitable extrasolar planets, combined with revolutionary advances in instrumentation and observational capabilities, have ushered in a renaissance in the millenia-old quest to answer our […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
High-Energy Photon and Particle Effects on Exoplanet Atmospheres and Habitability
It is now recognized that energetic stellar photon and particle radiation evaporates and erodes planetary atmospheres and controls upper atmospheric chemistry. Key exoplanet host stars will be too faint at […]
Posted inPress Release, SETI & Technosignatures
SETI at X-ray Energies – Parasitic Searches from Astrophysical Observations
If a sufficiently advanced civilization can either modulate the emission from an X-ray binary, or make use of the natural high luminosity to power an artificial transmitter, these can serve […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Terrestrial Effects Of Nearby Supernovae In The Early Pleistocene
Recent results have strongly confirmed that multiple supernovae happened at distances ~100 pc consisting of two main events: one at 1.7 to 3.2 million years ago, and the other at […]