What Happens If A Star Explodes Near The Earth?

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A massive thanks to Prof. Hans-Thomas Janka for helping us with the physics of supernovae and GRBs. A massive thanks to Prof. Brian Thomas for all of his help with the terrestrial effects of supernovae and GRBs. This video would not have been possible without them. Also thanks to Dr. Luke Barnes for his initial help with the literature search.

Cosmic bubble footage from

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References:

Hayes, L. A., & Gallagher, P. T. (2022). A Significant Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Associated with Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 221009A. Research Notes of the AAS, 6(10), 222.

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Special thanks to our Patron supporters:

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Written by Petr Lebedev & Derek Muller
Edited by Fabio Albertelli
Animation by Fabio Albertelli, Jakub Misiek, Alex Drakoulis, Ivy Tello, Mike Radjabov, and Charlie Davies
Filmed by Derek Muller
Additional Research by Kovi Rose & Katie Barnshaw
Video/photos supplied by NASA, ESA, Pond5, and Getty Images
Music from Epidemic Sound & Jonny Hyman
Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

[brunosimoes]

I've already seen dozens of videos on Youtube about how a Supernova works, but this is another level. A complete and very well illustrated lesson in under 20 minutes. Veritasium never disappoints.

[mayochupenjoyer]

i’m extremely proud of the way my dad explained supernovae to me when i was about 5. he told me to put my hands out, facing each other, and then he put his hands on mine. he then told me to push outwards, as hard as i can, while he pushed inwards, which made my hands collapse. he said that when a star wasn’t strong enough anymore then gravity won.

now that i’m older, i’m really enjoying this more comprehensive explanation

[joythought]

I was surprised a few years ago to learn that gold and heavier elements are unlikely to be created in a standard supernova but require a more extreme ultranova or similar event such as star collisions to produce special elements like gold. That just adds to how lucky we are to have such abundance of uranium, gold, etc on our planet.

[renosance]

I'm left in awe at the explanation of how some tiny, tiny, weightless, harmless Neutrino... detonates the largest bombs in the known Universe. Just amazing how super-large events can have the smallest origins.

Love this. Thank you.

[YouTube]

the detail and research that goes into these videos is truly next level!! keep up the amazing work 💫

[abiezerrosario]

Whenever I watch an almost 20 minute long Veritasium video, I never lose interest throughout the video and it's consistently gets my attention. The pacing of him talking quickly and pausing to make a transition makes it easier to retain the information. Also his voice is very clear and comprehensible. As always amazing stuff Veritasium, you never fail to get my attention.

[kalcongdon]

You just explained this better than anyone I've ever heard or watched😮. Well done! Mad it make sense

[saltedcod]

This was such a ridiculously interesting episode! I didn’t understand half of it, but it was so exciting to learn all these new things.

[Pdt]

The connection between astronomy, historic man, and palaeontology as a whole was absolutely mind opening. It is this reason this channel is one of the best channels on YouTube

[kevinarmstrong]

This guy has that enthusiasm it’s like he is as amazed as his viewers. Like he’s not teaching or lecturing he is shearing information. I adore everything he does!

[ighfee]

Great work as always. My nieces and nephews are always asking me space questions and ill answer but also show them these cool animations which really gets the point across.

[harambe]

Brilliantly written, brilliantly produced. You are the perfect educator.

[luxhyashah]

Last year, I almost joined the Brian fields research group after listening to his presentation on this topic. He talked about how they had to look through sediment samples to find traces of Fe-60. I thought it was so cool that we could learn so much about the history of our cosmic neighbourhood just by observing earth. It's amazing to see this topic explained so well.

[samsisohussein]

This is far better than a complete sponsored documentary. This is very inspirational and underrated content!

[tepuruoctavian]

Dude the thumbnail literally looks like he is going to explode a star as a prank/social experiment than a documentary video

[robertgoss]

Veritasium does it again. Thank you for this clear-headed explanation of complex celestial events.

[LeoStaley]

I watch an obscene amount of science youtube, and love supernova videos. I learned a ton from this video. You have done something wonderful here Derek.

[lessmore]

The fact that we as stardust have evolved to figure this stuff out is completely mind boggling

[nicolemitchell]

I'm an undergraduate student majoring in Astrophysics and Planetary Geology. Thank you SO much for this video and your sources, one of my professors was looking into an extinction event and I was curious as well. This has given me a starting place on research to piece things together! While I was pondering on possibilities I remembered this video. Veritasium, you are doing an amazing job with your channel. I have sent many of your videos to friends to help explain concepts, they always love your content too!

[ruyasatpathy]

sir, i have always been so confused by stars. yours was the best explanation till date, thank you