Ep 60: Oh where o where did our sun come from?
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Oh where o where did our sun come from?
In episode 59, we talked about the “rare Earth hypothesis.” According to that school of thought, when and where a star is born, and when and where it lives, matters. Our Sun apparently showed up after a very active epic of star formation. This may have protected our baby solar system from being bathed by too much radiation. In addition, we orbit our galaxy in an area that has enough heavy elements for making rocky planets, but not too close to the overly hot and violent center of the milky way. Only, that’s not where we started. In fact, nobody is quite certain where we started, or how we got where we are now.
Here’s a NASA press release about the evolution of spiral galaxies, and evidence that suggests that stars were being born, around 10,000,000,000 years ago, at roughly 30 times the rate they are being born now.
Our Sun Came Late to the Milky Way’s Star-Birth Party
Here’s an article wherein a candidate for the birth place of our sun was eliminated from consideration, leaving us all scratching our heads.