USA
Today: A pair of hot, luminous stars locked in orbit with
each other and ripping each other apart will one day explode in
a supernova that could send out a stream of gamma rays which if
aimed at the Earth, could destroy most life on the planet."I
used to appreciate this spiral just for its beautiful form, but
now I can't help a twinge of feeling that it is uncannily like
looking down a rifle barrel," said researcher Peter Tuthill, an
astronomer at the University of Sydney.More than 400 million
years ago a similar supernova explosion is believed to have
killed more than 90% of the species of the time (see
Recent
Nearby Supernovae May Have Left Their Marks on Earth,
Physics Today May 2002, page 19).
