November 4, 2011
WE ARE ALL DESIGNISTS NOW:
First Simulation Of The Supernova That Fathered Our Solar System: Computer model confirms that our Solar System was born from the ashes a dead star (kfc 11/03/2011, Technology Review)Today, Matthias Gritschneder at Peking University in Beijing and a few pals unveil a new computer simulation of the formation of the Solar System that clearly favours the supernova hypothesis.
The new model recreates what happens when a shockwave of hot gases from a supernova passes through a progenitor cloud of cold gases.
Not only does the supernova provide exactly the right amount of Al-26, the shockwave also causes our gas cloud to collapse, thereby triggering the formation of the Solar System.
What's more, the entire process happens very quickly. CV-chondrites probably formed when the temperature of gas cloud dropped below about 1800 degrees C.
The new model shows that this would have occurred over a timescale compatible with the 20,000 years that the evidence suggests.
There are certainly improvements that could be made to this model. It is a 2D simulation, rather than 3D, so some physical processes may not be simulated exactly.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Posted by oj at November 4, 2011 5:27 AM
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