Scientists scour the Earth and the sky for clues to our planet\u2019s climate history. Powerful and sustained volcanic eruptions can alter the climate for long periods of time, and the Sun\u2019s output can shift Earth\u2019s climate over millions of years. <\/p>\n
But what about interstellar hydrogen clouds? Can these regions of gas and dust change Earth\u2019s climate when the planet encounters them?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Interstellar clouds aren\u2019t all the same. Some are diffuse, while some are much denser. New research in Nature Astronomy says that our Solar System may have passed through one of the dense clouds two or three million years ago. The effect could\u2019ve altered the chemistry of Earth\u2019s atmosphere, affecting cloud formation and the climate. <\/p>\n The research is \u201cA possible direct exposure of the Earth to the cold dense interstellar medium 2\u20133 Myr ago.\u201d The lead author is Merav Opher from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the Astronomy Department at Boston University.<\/p>\n \u201cOur results open a new window into the relationship between the evolution of life on Earth and our cosmic neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Avi Loeb, co-author, Harvard University\u2019s Institute for Theory and Computation<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The Sun is moving through a large cavity in the interstellar medium (ISM) called the Local Bubble. Inside the LB, the Sun\u2019s solar output creates a cocoon called the heliosphere. It shields the Solar System from cosmic radiation. <\/p>\n Inside the LB, there\u2019s more than just the Sun. It also contains other stars, and the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC). The Sun has been moving through the LIC and will leave it in a few thousand years. The LIC is not very dense. <\/p>\n But in the last few million years, as the Sun has traversed the Local Bubble, it\u2019s encountered clouds that are much denser than the LIC. The researchers examined the effect these encounters had on the Sun\u2019s ability to carve out a cocoon for the Solar System and what effect this had on Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cStars move, and now this paper is showing not only that they move, but they encounter drastic changes.\u201d <\/p>\n Merav Opher, Professor of Astronomy, BU College of Arts & Sciences<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cHere we show that in the ISM that the Sun has traversed for the last couple of million years, there are cold, compact clouds that could have drastically affected the heliosphere. We explore a scenario whereby the Solar System went through a cold gas cloud a few million years ago,\u201d Opher and her colleagues write.<\/p>\n Most of what the Sun travels through is thin ISM. The Sun constantly moves through the thin ISM with no effect. \u201cThese clouds are plentiful around the Sun but have too low a density to contract the heliosphere to distances <130au,\u201d the authors explain. For comparison, the Kuiper Belt spans from 30 to 55 AU away from the Sun. <\/p>\n However, the denser clouds in the ISM are dense enough to dramatically affect the protective heliosphere. \u201cThe ISM in the vicinity of the Solar System also harbours a few, rare, dense, cold clouds that are called the Local Ribbon of Cold Clouds,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n One of the clouds in that ribbon is called the Local Leo Cold Cloud (LLCC). It\u2019s one of the largest clouds in the ribbon, and astronomers have studied it extensively. They know its density and its temperature. Researchers haven\u2019t paid as much attention to the other clouds in the ribbon, but they expect them to be similar. <\/p>\n The authors of this paper say that there\u2019s a small chance, about 1.3%, that the Sun passed through the tail of the LLCC. \u201cWe name that portion the Local Lynx of Cold Clouds (LxCCs). The LxCCs represent nearly half of all the mass of the LRCC and are more massive than the more well-studied LLCC,\u201d they write. <\/p>\n There are questions about the nature of these clouds in the past. \u201cNote that these clouds are anomalous and unexplained structures in the ISM, and their origin and physics are not well understood,\u201d the authors write. Their work is based on the assumption that they haven\u2019t changed substantially in the 2 million years since the purported encounter. \u201cWe have assumed here that these clouds have not undergone any substantial change over the last 2~Myr, though future work may provide more insight into their evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n The researchers used simulations to study the dense cloud\u2019s effect on the heliosphere and, by extension, our planet. They say that the cloud\u2019s hydrogen density pushed back on the Sun, shrinking the heliosphere smaller than the Earth\u2019s orbit around the Sun. It brought both the Sun and the Moon into contact with the dense, cold ISM. \u201cSuch an event may have had a dramatic impact on the Earth\u2019s climate,\u201d they explain.<\/p>\n The encounter is supported by the presence of the radioisotope 60<\/sup>Fe on Earth. 60<\/sup>Fe is predominantly produced in supernovae and has a half-life of 2.6 million years. Previous research linked the 60<\/sup>Fe to a supernova explosion, where it became entrenched in dust grains and then delivered to Earth. It\u2019s also present on the Moon. 244<\/sup>Pu was delivered at the same time, also in supernovae ejecta.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s a lot of uncertainty, the researchers say the deposition of 60<\/sup>Fe on Earth lines up with our Solar System\u2019s hypothetical passage through a dense cloud that compressed the protective heliosphere, allowing the isotopes to reach Earth. \u201cOur proposed scenario agrees with the geological evidence from 60<\/sup>Fe and 244<\/sup>Pu isotopes that Earth was in direct contact with the ISM during that period,\u201d they write. <\/p>\n But if a supernova delivered the radioisotopes, it would have to have been pretty close, and other evidence discounts the supernova source. \u201cA close supernova explosion contradicts the recent model of the Local Bubble formation,\u201d the authors explain. \u201cThe scenario does not require the absorption of 60<\/sup>Fe and 244<\/sup>Pu into dust particles that deliver them specifically to Earth, like the scenario with nearby supernova explosions.\u201d<\/p>\n The question at the heart of this issue is, how did this affect Earth?<\/p>\n An in-depth study of the consequences is outside the scope of this research. The team did comment on some possibilities, while also cautioning that very little research has been done on this matter.<\/p>\n \u201cVery few works have investigated the climatic effects of such encounters quantitatively in the context of encounters with dense giant molecular clouds. Some argue that such high densities would deplete the ozone in the mid-atmosphere (50\u2013100?km) and eventually cool the Earth,\u201d they write. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a leap, but some research suggests that this cooling could have contributed to the rise of our species. \u201cThe hypothesis is that the emergence of our species, Homo sapiens, was shaped by the need to adapt to climate change. With the shrinkage of the heliosphere, the Earth was exposed directly to the ISM,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n In their conclusion, they remind us that the probability that this encounter took place is low. But not zero.<\/p>\n \u201cStars move, and now this paper is showing not only that they move, but they encounter drastic changes,\u201d said Opher, a BU College of Arts & Sciences professor of astronomy and member of the University\u2019s Center for Space Physics.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough the coincidence of the Sun\u2019s past motion with these rare clouds is truly remarkable, the turbulent nature of the ISM and the small current angular size of these clouds mean that the past location error ellipse is much larger than the clouds and, absent any other information, the probability of their encounter is measured to be low,\u201d they write in their conclusion. It\u2019s up to future work to dig more deeply into the matter.<\/p>\n Even if this particular encounter may not have happened, the research is still fascinating. There appear to be a bewildering number of variables that led to us, and it\u2019s not a stretch to imagine that passing through dense clouds in the ISM played some role at some point. <\/p>\n \u201cOnly rarely does our cosmic neighborhood beyond the solar system affect life on Earth,\u201d said Avi Loeb, director of Harvard University\u2019s Institute for Theory and Computation and coauthor on the paper. \u201cIt is exciting to discover that our passage through dense clouds a few million years ago could have exposed the Earth to a much larger flux of cosmic rays and hydrogen atoms. Our results open a new window into the relationship between the evolution of life on Earth and our cosmic neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope that our present work will incentivize future works detailing the climate effects due to an encounter of the heliosphere with the LRCC and possible consequences for evolution on Earth,\u201d the authors conclude. <\/p>\n\n
\n
![\"These](\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/compressed-heliosphere-1024x453.png\")
Like this:<\/h3>\n