Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001aas...198.6909s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 198th AAS Meeting, #69.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 33, p.1176
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Scientific paper
We estimate the frequency of intermittent hypermutation events and disruptions of planetary/satellite photochemistry due to ultraviolet radiation from core collapse supernova explosions. Calculations are presented for planetary systems in the local Milky Way, including the important moderating effects of vertical Galactic structure and UV absorption by interstellar dust. The events are particularly frequent for satellites of giant gas planets at distances more than 5-10 AU from solar-type parent stars, or in the conventional habitable zones for planets orbiting spectral type K and M parent stars, with rates of significant jolts about 103 - 104 per Gyr. The steep source spectra and existing data on UVA and longer-wavelength radiation damage in terrestrial organisms suggest that the mutational effects may operate even on planets with ozone shields. We argue that the mutation doubling dose for UV radiation should be much smaller than the mean lethal dose, using terrestrial prokaryotic organisms as our model, and that jolts may lead to real-time evolutionary effects (fixation of mutations) if the jolt durations are longer than about a week, corresponding to several hundred generation times, or much less if the equivalent of resting state adaptive mutations exist in extraterrestrial organisms. Longer-term phylogenetic effects are likely if atmospheric photochemical disturbances lead to niche creation or destruction in relevant habitats. This work was supported by NSF grant 9907582.
Scalo John
Wheeler Justin C.
Williams Peter
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