NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Dr. Brian Fields as a featured presenter for its Science Speaker Series. His presentation, “When Stars Attack! Near- Earth Supernova Explosions and Their Radioactive Fingerprints,” will take place on July 26 at 7 pm. It will be presented via Zoom. This event is free to all.

The most massive stars are the celebrities of the cosmos: they represent a small fraction of all stars, but live extravagant lives and die in spectacular and violent supernova explosions. While these events are awesome to observe, they can take a sinister shade when they occur closer to home because an explosion within a certain “minimum safe distance” would pose a grave threat to Earthlings. We will discuss these cosmic threats to life and show compelling evidence of “near miss” supernova explosions from three and seven million years ago that both rained their debris upon the Earth. This discovery allows us to study supernova ashes in the laboratory and confirms that nearby explosions are a fact of life in our galaxy. We then press further, presenting recent evidence that supernova explosions could have caused biological extinctions on Earth around 360 million years ago. We conclude with tests of this hypothesis, including the search for trace amounts of radioactive supernova byproducts in fossils that witnessed the end of the Devonian period.

Brian Fields, Ph.D. is a professor of Astronomy at the University of Illinois, where he is also an Affiliate Professor of Physics. He studies the “inner space/outer space” connections that link science at the smallest and largest scales. He is particularly interested in the highest-energy sites in nature, such as the Big Bang, exploding stars (supernovae), and high-energy particles in space (cosmic rays) where all fundamental forces play essential roles. He is fascinated by the way the human narrative is ultimately linked to that of cosmic events that largely pass unremarked but ultimately shape our lives.

The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first female professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.

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For Immediate Release

July 13, 2023

Contact: Grace Baisley

marketinginterns@mariamitchell.org