OLATHE, KAN, -- Physics professor Andrew Overholt, PhD, learned last week that he and two colleagues will receive a $500,000 NASA Exobiology grant over three years to study the "Terrestrial Impact of Nearby Supernovae." MNU's portion of the grant is $150,000 which will be used to support the research, obtain additional computer equipment and fund a student research assistant.
"This is the kind of research we encourage our students to seek out over the summer at other research facilities," Overholt says. "It is exciting to get to have it here at MNU for a top science student."
Overholt conducts research with University of Kansas Professor Adrian Melott, PhD, and Brian Thomas, PhD, of Washburn University in a group they have named the KU Astrophysics Biology Working Group. The new research is in an "untouched area" according to Overholt.
"No one has studied what effects there would be on Earth of a nearby supernova," he says. "Nearby in this instance would be about 10 parsecs or 30 light years."
A supernova occurs when a star collapses at the end of its lifecycle, causing it to heat up and explode. Overholt says this happens very frequently because there are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy. But statistically they do not happen very close to Earth. A recent study shows that Earth has experienced a nearby supernova in the distant past.
Evidence of supernova dust was found in a mud core sample at the bottom of the ocean. Overholt says that a rare iron isotope found in this dust and eaten by bacteria was found in bacteria skeletons which were trapped in the sea floor. Scans of the mud core found the iron deposits proving the supernova dust was there.
Overholt and his colleagues will each study separate aspects of supernova effects. Melott will focus on atmospheric effects such as ozone depletion. Overholt will study cosmic ray secondaries, high energy pieces of matter that can cause radiation sickness and cancer. Thomas will conduct models of the rays from their source before they reach the Earth. All of this research is done through computer modeling requiring data analysis by supercomputers such as the National Science Foundation's TeraGrid, a cyberinfrastructure of high-performance computers at 11 locations nationwide.
The colleagues hope to learn how bad a worst case scenario would be, if a nearby supernova is survivable, how close it could be and still be survivable as well as effects on other planets with thinner atmospheres.
"This is an unanswered question," Overholt says. "We know these happen and statistically they should near us, but no one knows what would happen on Earth if there was a nearby supernova."
The three-year study will be published based on results after peer review.
ABOUT MNU
MidAmerica Nazarene University is a private, Christian, liberal arts university founded in 1966. Offering 40 traditional undergraduate majors, the university is also known for its accelerated professional and graduate programs, including undergraduate degrees in management and nursing and graduate degrees in business, education, nursing, and counseling, and postgraduate certificates. Online offerings include classes in education, nursing and associate's-level studies. Study abroad as well as service-learning experiences are encouraged through MNU's Go Global, MNU Europe, and ServiceCorps programs. The campus is located on 105 acres in Olathe, Kan., and operates a location in Liberty, Mo., for professional and graduate programs. More information may be found at www.mnu.edu.
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