The secret history of Earth’s supernova impacts: armed with data from SN 1987A, the supernova Johannes Kepler spotted in our own Milky Way galaxy in 1604, scientists calculated a theoretical radius of doom, inside which a supernova would have grievous effects. They concluded, following Stephen Hawking’s dire prediction, The bottom line was that there would be a supernova close enough to the Earth to drastically affect the ozone layer about once every billion years.
Source Credits: University of Kansas and The Secret History of the Supernova at the Bottom of the Sea, Julia Rosen
image credit: Pinwheel-Shaped Galaxy by NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI/AURA) and A. Riess (STScI) and Red Sea Coral Reef by Wusel700
Read about The Daily Galaxy editorial team here