MadSci Network: Astronomy
Query:

Subject: Can a galaxy's core stars explode in a chain-reaction?

Date: Mon Apr 19 15:46:46 2004
Posted by Richard
Grade level: nonaligned School: No school entered.
City: new port richey State/Province: fl Country: usa
Area of science: Astronomy
ID: 1082407606.As
Message:

Since the stars in a galactic core are very close together, if one star 
explodes, could the resulting energy influx trigger similar explosions in 
surrounding stars, causing a chain-reaction?  Have we ever observed a galaxy 
in that condition?  Should something like this happen to our beloved Milky 
Way, what would the eventual consequences to Earth be?  It seems to me that 
there would be a massive radiation front expanding outward from the 
explosions, and some 30,000 years later it would reach us.  Would any existing 
humans still survive after that?   What about the galaxy itself after an event 
of this magnitude?


Re: Can a galaxy's core stars explode in a chain-reaction?

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