Ice core may record supernovae and solar cycles
MAR 09, 2009
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023136
Science News : Analyzing the composition of an Antarctic ice core, Japanese researchers say they have found the chemical fingerprints of two well-known supernovas from the 11th century, as well as evidence of an 11-year solar cycle from the same century.
The research, currently available on arXiv , has been submitted to Nature for peer-review, but not everyone is convinced the group has found a supernova chemical fingerprint in the ice.
“The basic idea is an interesting one, but it’s way premature to accept these findings” at face value, comments Eric Wolff of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England. “If the authors could show convincingly that they had supernovas, this would be exciting...But I think we are a long way from that.”
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
