Re: 62 million year extinction cycle

On Jun 10, 2:04 pm, Allan Adler <a...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There was an article in a recent Science News about the relation between
the motion of the solar system in the Milky Way and mass extinctions on
Earth. As the solar system moves, it bobs up and down relative to the
plane of the Milky Way. That bobbing apparently takes about 62 million
years. When the solar system is on the side closer to Virgo, it is
exposed to more radiation and cosmic rays from Virgo and this is what
they say causes the cycle of mass extinctions on Earth.

Questions:
(1) Where are we presently in the 62 million year cycle? I.e. when was the
last mass extinction of this cycle?
(2) How fast are we actually moving towards Virgo and how quickly
should the radiation levels increase as we do?



What kind of a cycle is it? I know about 26000 years around the
galactic plane...
This star could wipe out Earth someone wrote and all the gama
bursts...
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/sn2006gy/eta_opt_900.jpg

.

Relevant Pages

  • 62 million year extinction cycle
    ... As the solar system moves, it bobs up and down relative to the ... plane of the Milky Way. ... they say causes the cycle of mass extinctions on Earth. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: 62 million year extinction cycle
    ... As the solar system moves, it bobs up and down relative to the ... plane of the Milky Way. ... they say causes the cycle of mass extinctions on Earth. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: If one of our neighboring stars like Proxima Centauri went nova...
    ... -:) Then there's the Snowball Earth theory - ET ain't phoning home to ... cloud that were proposed as working hypotheses, ... terrestrial mass extinctions seen in the geologic record: ... confounded by the collection of more data on the supposed periodicity ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Mass Extinctions - A Threat from Outer Space or Our Own Planets Detox?
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    (sci.geo.geology)
  • Mass Extinctions - A Threat from Outer Space or Our Own Planets Detox?
    ... Earth history has been punctuated by several mass extinctions rapidly wiping out nearly all life forms on our planet. ... University of Leicester geologists, Professor Andy Saunders and Dr Marc Reichow, are taking a fresh look at what may actually have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and caused other similarly cataclysmic events, aware they may end up exploding a few popular myths. ... Professor Andy Saunders and Dr. Marc Reichow at Leicester, in collaboration with Anthony Cohen, Steve Self, and Mike Widdowson at the Open University, have recently been awarded a NERC grant to study the Siberian Traps and their environmental impact. ...
    (sci.geo.geology)
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