Anahaim, California. – Some of the most violent explosions of the universe are closer than as you can think in the debris; In fact, you must have swimmed into it during your last dip in the sea.
By analyzing samples from deep ocean, researchers have found a unique variety of radioactive plutonium that appears to be debris from a rare breed of cosmic explosion called Kilonova, which probably occurred near the Earth about 10 million years ago. But more evidence will be required to prove the existence of this explosion, and researchers feel that they know where to find it: on the surface Moon,
“We live in a supernova cemetery,” Brian fieldsIn the Urbana-Shampain, an astronomer at the University of Illinois, on March 17, the 2025 American Physical Society said in a March performance at the Global Physics Summit. “(Make supernova) small spots of rocks that can literally rain on the Earth. They will accumulate in the depths of the sea, and they will also hang on the moon.”
Fields have said about this cosmic debris since the 1990s. But it was not until 2004 that researchers began to exclude supernova remains from sea samples. He found marks of a radioactive version of iron that do not occur naturally on Earth and can only be explained by the supernova near some time in the recent history of the Earth.
In the following years, about a dozen and samples from both the ocean and the moon depicted more detailed photographs of this explosive history. The refined principles of the Fields and his colleagues pointed to two separate supernova events, which occurred 3 million and 8 million years ago. “It is a direct observation proof that supernova radioactivity is the factory,” said the Fields.
A cosmic cocktail
The plot became thicker in 2021, when researchers discovered a single rare substance, sprinkled with the same samples: a radioactive isotopes of plutonium. This discovery required an original story that is more unusual than the deaths of violent stars which are born supernova.
Plutonium version that researchers have found is considered Kilonovus – Explosions that occur in the form of two binary neutrons stars are spiral towards each other in a holocaust collision. Kilonova is also factory for some rare elements of our planet, such as gold and platinum, and astronomers have tried to highlight the mechanics of this class of long explosions.
Connected: 10 biggest explosions in history
Now, the fields and their colleagues suspect that a separate Kilonova event recognized two already identified Supernova, which was at least 10 million years ago. These separate explosions created a type of radioactive cocktail, embaking a hybrid iron and plutonium signature in samples.
“We had a Kilonova who created a plutonium – as it likes to do – and exploded it everywhere,” the Fields said. “Then, with the stirring of the material by a supernova, it all mixed, and some of them fell to the earth.”
But the fields and their team still want to conduct more tests to increase their principle. Like new efforts Artemis mission to return humans to the moonResearchers are optimistic that lunar samples they expect to analyze, not in such a small supply.
“Right now, our lunar soil is so precious because we got all this,” Fields told Live Science. “Hope, after all, we are taking regular trips on the moon, so it’s not a big deal – one kilogram sample will not be much for people.”
With more soil, the fields and their colleagues are expected to verify that this Kilonova actually happened, as well as when and where it happened. Due to its simple geology, the moon should provide a clear snapshot to how cosmic debris landed there.
“On Earth, things sink to the bottom of the sea, and you have to worry about streams and environment,” the fields told live science. “But the moon is great because when the luggage land, it is just land.”
The next phase of the Artemis Mission was not set to launch at least by the next year, the fields and their teams are still far away from requesting access to this hot commodity. But in the meantime, they are assuring the scientific community that research is a meaningful investment.
“We are writing papers to prove the Artemis community that this is something to think seriously,” the Fields said. “Samples are coming back anyway. We just want to close it.”
Jena Ahart attends APS Global Physics Summit Through a Fellowship for the Council for Science Writing and Breinson Foundation
