The cocoon would have acted to protect the forming solar system from harsh radiation emitted from hot and massive stars called OB stars, something that could have negatively impacted the formation of planets like Earth. Many supernovas can be seen from billions of light-years away, and nearby supernovas in past centuries have been visible during the daytime.

Meteorites that are rich in radioactive isotopes broke apart from larger bodies like asteroids that were born in the first 100,000 of the solar system, while it was still in this dense filament. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has begun the study of one of the most renowned supernovae, SN 1987A (Supernova 1987A). The supernova SN2018zd (large white dot on the right) located 30 to 40 million light years away was first identified in 2018 and may be the first observed evidence of an electron-capture supernova. Supernovas are some of the brightest events in the universe, occasionally outshining entire galaxies at their peak. Smaller stellar bodies, like the sun, form along these filaments, while larger stars, like the one that would have exploded in this supernova, tend to form at points where these filaments cross each other.Ĭonsidering this, Arzoumanian and the team estimated that it would take around 300,000 years for the supernova shockwave to break up the dense filament shielding the infant solar system. Stars are born in giant clouds of molecular gas that are composed of dense tendrils or filaments. The red supergiant Betelgeuse, a colossal star in the Orion constellation, experienced a massive stellar eruption in 2019, the likes of which have never been seen, according to astronomers. These explosions give birth to neutron stars and black holes, and eject solar masses of heavy elements. In 1999 astronomers identified these bursts as the. Most supernova explosions accompany the death of a massive star. This material becomes the building blocks of the next generation of stars - but the blast wave that carries it outward can be strong enough to rip apart any newborn planetary systems that happen to be nearby. A starquake is thought to be the tearing apart of the surface of a neutron star, much like an earthquake here on Earth. As the core collapses, a supernova is triggered that spreads the heavy elements the star has forged throughout its life into space. Supernova explosions occur when dying massive stars run out of the fuel for nuclear fusion, and their cores can no longer support themselves against gravitational collapse.

Supernova outer space phenomena