Earth hit by gamma ray burst from space in eighth century

Gamma ray death blast is warning from history
Earth was apparently hit by gamma rays in the year 775 (Picture: PA/Nasa/Dana Berry)

It sounds like the starting point for a pulp science fiction novel but Earth has been blasted by the most powerful cosmic death ray in the universe.

Fortunately for the entire human race, animal and plant kingdoms, the source of the gamma ray burst was at least 3,000 light years away.

Scientists believe it was caused by the cataclysmic collision of two black holes or neutron stars and hit the planet some time towards the end of, what we Earthlings call, the year 775.

Had it been closer, the radiation would have stripped away our ozone layer. Each Gamma ray burst corresponds to about a thousand Earths being vaporised into pure energy in seconds.

Scientists found a chemical signature of the blast in Japanese cedar tree rings and Antarctic ice cores.

High levels of carbon-14 isotopes were detected that form when high-intensity radiation bombards nitrogen in the atmosphere.

The blast took place in the Milky Way and a modern day recurrence could cause serious problems on Earth.

‘A similar event today could cause havoc with the sensitive electronic systems that advanced societies have come to depend on,’ said Dr Ralph Neuhauser, from Jena University in Germany.

‘The challenge now is to establish how rare such carbon-14 spikes are, that is how often such radiation bursts hit the Earth.’

Most gamma ray bursts occur billions of light years away from Earth.

Dr Neuhauser’s theory is reported in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.



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