Extinction of dinos
Extinction of dinosCould an exploding star have been responsible for the death of the dinosaurs? This
idea has become popular again as an explanation for the disappearance of the
dinosaurs. An exploding star can blast material enormous distances into space. If
this material reached Earth’s atmosphere, changes may have occurred that were
harmful to life.
We call an exploding star a supernova. Nova is the Latin word for new, and in
ancient times, when an exploding star was observed, people often thought a new
star was being born. The plural form of nova is novae. So when we talk of more than
one supernova, we say supernovae.
When a star has used all it’s nuclear fuel, the gravitational force that pulls
the star’s material towards it’s center no longer has an opposing force to act
against it. As a result the star collapses. A star that once had eight times as much
matter as our sun and was 1,000,000 miles across, becomes a sphere only ten to
fifteen miles across. As the star collapses, very small particles (called neutrinos)
escape into space. After the star becomes a very small sphere, it explodes like a
giant nuclear bomb...
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