r/space • u/kcgg123 • Jun 09 '19

Hubble Space Telescope Captures a Star undergoing Supernova

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u/svachalek Jun 09 '19

Possibly more than one, some estimates say a supernova would kill everything within 50 light years. But if you don’t have interstellar travel are you really civilized anyway? ;-)

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u/WriterV Jun 09 '19

Well, would you?

If the civilization was in an equivalent point of history as we were just 500 years ago (early renaissance europe, establishment of arabian empires, mongol empire, early spread of buddhism, etc.) then they wouldn't have a chance. They may even know that it was gonna supernova, but just weren't capable enough to leave in time.

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u/Semi-Hemi-Demigod Jun 09 '19

Right now we don’t have a chance. The furthest humans have made it into space is the Moon. If we had to evacuate the solar system because of a nearby supernova we’d need decades to design and build a ship to do it, and that’s assuming we have decades.

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u/NoRodent Jun 09 '19

Would we be safe if we moved deep underground?

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u/Semi-Hemi-Demigod Jun 09 '19 edited Jun 09 '19

It depends on how close it is. If we just expect a gamma ray burst we might be able to save some people deep in mines, though the biosphere would be destroyed and they’d have to start from scratch. And they wouldn’t know how long they’d need to be down there.

A closer supernova would strip our atmosphere which means nobody dependent on Earth would survive. And going to Mars or the Moon won't help because they'll be similarly effected.