Search

We demonstrate that the well-known 2.6 MeV gamma-ray emission line from thallium-208 could serve as a real-time indicator of astrophysical heavy element production, with both rapid (r) and intermediate (i) neutron capture processes capable of its synthesis. We consider the r process in a Galactic neutron star merger and show Tl-208 to be detectable from ~12 hours to ~10 days, and again ~1-20 years post-event. Detection of Tl-208 represents the only identified prospect for a direct signal of lead production (implying gold synthesis), arguing for the importance of future MeV telescope missions which aim to detect Galactic events but may also be able to reach some nearby galaxies in the Local Group., Comment: accepted to PRL

Binary neutron star mergers (BNS) produce high-energy emissions from several physically different sources, including a gamma-ray burst (GRB) and its afterglow, a kilonova, and, at late times, a remnant many parsecs in size. Ionizing radiation from these sources can be dangerous for life on Earth-like planets when located too close. Work to date has explored the substantial danger posed by the GRB to on-axis observers: here we focus instead on the potential threats posed to nearby off-axis observers. Our analysis is based largely on observations of the GW 170817/GRB 170817A multi-messenger event, as well as theoretical predictions. For baseline kilonova parameters, we find that the X-ray emission from the afterglow may be lethal out to $\sim 5$ pc and the off-axis gamma-ray emission may threaten a range out to $\sim 4$ pc, whereas the greatest threat comes years after the explosion, from the cosmic rays accelerated by the kilonova blast, which can be lethal out to distances up to $\sim 11$ pc. The distances quoted here are typical, but the values have significant uncertainties and depend on the viewing angle, ejected mass, and explosion energy in ways we quantify. Assessing the overall threat to Earth-like planets, have a similar kill distance to supernovae, but are far less common. However, our results rely on the scant available kilonova data, and multi-messenger observations will clarify the danger posed by such events., Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures. Comments welcome

244Pu has recently been discovered in deep-sea deposits spanning the past 10 Myr, a period that includes two 60Fe pulses from nearby supernovae. 244Pu is among the heaviest $r$-process products, and we consider whether it was created in the supernovae, which is disfavored by nucleosynthesis simulations, or in an earlier kilonova event that seeded 244Pu in the nearby interstellar medium that was subsequently swept up by the supernova debris. We discuss how these possibilities can be probed by measuring 244Pu and other $r$-process radioisotopes such as 129I and 182Hf, both in lunar regolith samples returned to Earth by missions such as Chang'e and Artemis, and in deep-sea deposits., Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, v3 matches version to appear in ApJ

The astrophysical sites where r-process elements are synthesized remain mysterious: it is clear that neutron star mergers (kilonovae (KNe)) contribute, and some classes of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) are also likely sources of at least the lighter r-process species. The discovery of 60Fe on the Earth and Moon implies that one or more astrophysical explosions have occurred near the Earth within the last few million years, probably SNe. Intriguingly, 244Pu has now been detected, mostly overlapping with 60Fe pulse. However, the 244Pu flux may extend to before 12 Myr ago, pointing to a different origin. Motivated by these observations and difficulties for r-process nucleosynthesis in SN models, we propose that ejecta from a KN enriched the giant molecular cloud that gave rise to the Local Bubble, where the Sun resides. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements of 244Pu and searches for other live isotopes could probe the origins of the r-process and the history of the solar neighborhood, including triggers for mass extinctions, e.g., that at the end of the Devonian epoch, motivating the calculations of the abundances of live r-process radioisotopes produced in SNe and KNe that we present here. Given the presence of 244Pu, other r-process species such as 93Zr, 107Pd, 129I, 135Cs, 182Hf, 236U, 237Np and 247Cm should be present. Their abundances and well-resolved time histories could distinguish between the SN and KN scenarios, and we discuss prospects for their detection in deep-ocean deposits and the lunar regolith. We show that AMS 129I measurements in Fe-Mn crusts already constrain a possible nearby KN scenario., Comment: 45 pages, 14 figures, 11 tables, v2 matches version to appear in ApJ

The Late Devonian was a protracted period of low speciation resulting in biodiversity decline, culminating in extinction events near the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary. Recent evidence indicates that the final extinction event may have coincided with a dramatic drop in stratospheric ozone, possibly due to a global temperature rise. Here we study an alternative possible cause for the postulated ozone drop: a nearby supernova explosion that could inflict damage by accelerating cosmic rays that can deliver ionizing radiation for up to $\sim 100$ kyr. We therefore propose that the end-Devonian extinctions were triggered by supernova explosions at $\sim 20$ pc, somewhat beyond the "kill distance" that would have precipitated a full mass extinction. Such nearby supernovae are likely due to core-collapses of massive stars; these are concentrated in the thin Galactic disk where the Sun resides. Detecting either of the long-lived radioisotopes Sm-146 or Pu-244 in one or more end-Devonian extinction strata would confirm a supernova origin, point to the core-collapse explosion of a massive star, and probe supernova nucleosythesis. Other possible tests of the supernova hypothesis are discussed., Comment: 3 pages, no figures. Matches published version. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND license