Thursday, November 2, 2006 Subject: Can a Gamma-ray destroy the earth There is so much talk about a huge gamma-ray destroying the earth. Is that possible?

Answer provided by Phil Plait (SSU NASA Education Resource Director): I think what you mean is a "gamma-ray burst", and not just a gamma ray. Gamma rays are a form of light, like the light we see, except with millions or even billions of times the energy. It takes a very powerful event to create gamma rays.

A gamma-ray burst (or GRB) is just such an event! It's a huge explosion in space, and scientists think they occur when either a very massive star explodes, or two ultra-dense neutron stars collide. Either way, we think a GRB signals the birth of a black hole.

Every GRB ever seen (and we've seen almost 3000 of them) has been very, very far away-- hundreds of millions to billions of light years distant. At those extreme distances, they can't hurt us. But if one were close, then yes, it could damage the Earth, or even destroy it totally!

But it would have to be very close, probably inside our own Milky Way Galaxy. In any one galaxy, GRBs are extremely rare, and we don't know of any ... more.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.