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I tried not to make this too long but this is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life. Plus it’s 42% gifs. So here goes:
My Astrophysics Master’s Project: a thread
@AcademicChatter #AcademicChatter
My Astrophysics Master’s Project: a thread
@AcademicChatter #AcademicChatter
First thing’s first: the fancy title.
SUPERNOVA ENRICHMENT OF PLANETARY SYSTEMS
Okay now let’s break it down
SUPERNOVA ENRICHMENT OF PLANETARY SYSTEMS
Okay now let’s break it down
What’s a supernova?
All stars that are more than 8x as heavy as the Sun explode when they die. I know, so dramatic right? These explosions are called supernovae (pl) and they look a little something like this
All stars that are more than 8x as heavy as the Sun explode when they die. I know, so dramatic right? These explosions are called supernovae (pl) and they look a little something like this
Remember when Carl Sagan said we are all star dust? Yeah pretty much every element you have ever heard of apart from Hydrogen and Helium is made in stars through nuclear fusion! You were once part of a star and idk about you but that excites me.
What’s enrichment?
During supernova explosions, elements that were made in a star are released into it’s surroundings. Anything close by can capture some of these elements and become “enriched”.
During supernova explosions, elements that were made in a star are released into it’s surroundings. Anything close by can capture some of these elements and become “enriched”.
What’s a planetary system?
The general term for..a system of planets..like our Solar System. Sorry I couldn’t think of a better description
Ight so BOOM! We got the title down.
The general term for..a system of planets..like our Solar System. Sorry I couldn’t think of a better description
Ight so BOOM! We got the title down.
Right so the fancy rock scientists that analyse meteorites found Magnesium (Mg) and Nickel (Ni) in some of the oldest meteorites.
“Ok and?”
WELL these elements are the result of the radioactive decay of two “Short-Lived Radio(active)isotopes” (SLRs): Aluminium-26 and Iron-60.
“Ok and?”
WELL these elements are the result of the radioactive decay of two “Short-Lived Radio(active)isotopes” (SLRs): Aluminium-26 and Iron-60.
Btw when I type “WELL” this is what I mean
Based on the amount of Mg & Ni and the way they’re distributed in the meteorites, astronomers realised that the SLRs themselves must have got into the Solar System when it just started to form. At that point, it would have been a baby Sun with a huge disc of gas & dust around it.
This is what the Solar System would have looked like in its younger days. So the idea is that the Sun’s disc could have been enriched by a nearby supernova aka the SLRs stuck onto the dust particles in the disc.
: NASA
: NASA
These dust particles are what combine over time to form planets, asteroids, comets, moons & alluh dat good stuff in our Solar System.
These things formed when the Solar system was a few million years old. Right now it’s 4.5 BILLION years old.
These things formed when the Solar system was a few million years old. Right now it’s 4.5 BILLION years old.
So my project is trying to figure out how we got those SLRs into our lovely Solar System all those billions of years ago, before planets etc. formed. I’m doing that by looking for supernovae in simulations of star clusters*.
*Stars are born in litters that we call clusters. So when the Sun was a baby, it was a lot closer to other stars before they all drifted off into Space
Therefore, it’s possible that the Sun and the disc around it could have been enriched with SLRs by a supernova in its cluster.
Therefore, it’s possible that the Sun and the disc around it could have been enriched with SLRs by a supernova in its cluster.
Me when I say the word “therefore”
If my results show enrichment, we want to see whether the discs get the right amount of SLRs to explain what we see in meteorites.
Okay so why do we care?
WELL these aren’t just your everyday, ordinary SLRs my friends! They release heat when they decay so they can affect how hot a planet is while it’s forming from the dust particles. The more SLR particles that decay, the more heat.
WELL these aren’t just your everyday, ordinary SLRs my friends! They release heat when they decay so they can affect how hot a planet is while it’s forming from the dust particles. The more SLR particles that decay, the more heat.
In addition, everything on this planet was once a dust particle or stuck to a dust particle. For example, ice. So if a dust particle with ice is close to a dust particle with SLRs, when the SLR decays, the heat can melt the ice into water or cause it to evaporate completely.
Therefore 
, Astronomers believe that this heat could play a big role in how much water a planet ends up with. Because too many SLRs and all the planet’s water could evaporate while it’s forming. No SLRs and the planet could be engulfed in an ocean far deeper than our oceans.
, Astronomers believe that this heat could play a big role in how much water a planet ends up with. Because too many SLRs and all the planet’s water could evaporate while it’s forming. No SLRs and the planet could be engulfed in an ocean far deeper than our oceans.
Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth. Too much or too little = lower chance of life.
Soooo these lil SLRs? They could actually mean a lot more when it comes to the delicate balance of the one and only planet (we know about) that can sustain life.
Soooo these lil SLRs? They could actually mean a lot more when it comes to the delicate balance of the one and only planet (we know about) that can sustain life.
Calculating the enrichment is all done w/ Python. So if you saw my tweet the other day, what you (kind of) saw in that video were my charts after analysing a simulation of a cluster.
They show the amount of each SLR the discs had after a supernova happened.
They show the amount of each SLR the discs had after a supernova happened.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk if you made it this far. Ask me anything about Space any time and I will literally be so excited to answer your questions.
