The occurrence of distant collisions is already alarming. But a recent study examined the potential impact of such explosions happening close to Earth-like planets. The study used GW170817, a kilonova identified in 2017 at a distance of 130 million light-years, as a basis for its investigation. Researchers, led by Haille Perkins from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, employed advanced computer simulations to determine the minimum safe distance between Earth and a potential kilonova explosion. Their findings paint a dire picture of the potential consequences.
