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Supernovae
A supernova is an explosion of a supergiant star. It will put off huge amounts of energy, much more than if all the nuclear warheads on Earth were detonated at once.
313 Questions
Define the terms supernova and nebula?
A supernova is a powerful stellar explosion that occurs at the end of a star's life cycle, leading to a burst of radiation and the creation of heavy elements. A nebula is a vast cloud of gas and dust in space, often formed from the remnants of dying stars or regions where new stars are being born.
How many supernovas are discovered a year?
about 27 thousand
by Kenny cheung
That is a rediculous answer.
The current Guide Star Catalogue (GSC-II) contains 945,592,683 stars out to magnitude 21. That's almost a billion.
What is the difference between Type I and Type II supernovae?
supernovae are classified by the lines in their spectra (which indicate which elements are present). type I supernovae have no hydrogen lines, having been caused by the explosion of a star with no hydrogen envelope. type II supernovae have hydrogen lines, indicating that the exploding progenitor star had retained a significant amount of its hydrogen before its supernova.
type I supernovae are further classified based on the presence of silicon lines, which are present in type Ia supernovae but not types Ib and Ic.
A Supernova explosion will seed the surrounding space with all of the elements created by nuclear fusion in the various layers of the star that preceded the explosion. Nuclear fusion produces less and less energy the heavier the elements used. Once a supergiant star develops a core of Iron and Nickel 56 there is little or no energy being produced by fusion and the star collapses under its own gravitational force causing extreme heat and pressure and then a rebound explosion. This happens in seconds or less. Other products of this supernova are radiation and sub-atomic particles. The heaviest elements produced (Iron and Nickel) accrue neutrons thereby increasing their atomic weight and number and producing heavier and heavier elements. The heavier an element (or metal), the more rare it is. Neutron acquisition can be be either rapid (R-process) or slow (S-process).
If a star is massive enough what can result after it produces a supernova?
If a star is massive enough, after it produces a supernova it can either leave behind a neutron star or collapse into a black hole, depending on the mass of the original star.
How did supernova 1987 get its name?
The name is formed from SN (yes SuperNova), the year of discovery, then followed by a one or two letter designation. SN is optional.
The first 26 of the year get designated with an upper case letter from A to Z. then, pairs of lowercase letters are used, starting with aa, ab.... etcetera Historical supernovae were known simply by the year they occurred: SN185, SN1572 SN1604. Since 1885, the letter notation was used.
At the initial explosion, they would be spherical as pressure would be equal around the dying star. However as the expanding gases cool and mix, they can take on any shape imaginable. [See Link for pictures]
Will our sun become a supernova?
The Sun does not have enough mass to become a supernova because its mass is less than the Chandrasekhar mass (approximately 1.4 Suns) and it has no way to gain mass.
When the Sun comes to the end of its life (In about 5 billion years) [See Link] it will slowly emerge into a red giant. The dying Sun will then throw off its outer layers, forming a nebula. The only object remaining will be the extremely hot core, which will slowly cool and then fade as a white dwarf over many billions of years.
Interestingly, the fact that our solar system contains heavy elements indicates that supernovae have occurred here before. Our sun is probably the third star to exist in this cosmic neighbourhood, and our solar system formed from the particles left over from prior stars destroying themselves in spectacular manner
Links are provided below for more information.
Throughout most of its life, a star maintains a delicate balance between the inward force of its own gravity and the outward force of pressure created by fusion. If this balance is disturbed a star will collapse.
Very massive stars can fuse elements up until iron. Once a star begins fusing iron, this absorbs energy rather than releasing it. There is no longer any energy being released to support the star, so the core collapses under its own weight as the outer layers explode violently outward. This is a supernova. The extreme heat generated by a supernova is responsible for fusing elements heavier than iron, up until uranium.
Why does a type Ia supernova make a better indicator of distance than a type II supernova?
Type Ia supernovae [See Link] follow a characteristic light curve. This luminosity is generated by the radioactive decay of certain elements. The peak luminosity of the light curve was believed to be consistent across Type Ia supernovae as having a maximum absolute magnitude of about -19.3. This would allow them to be used as a secondary "standard candle" [See Link] to measure the distance to their host galaxies
Who recorded the first supernova?
The word supernova was first used by Fritz Zwicky, a Swiss astrophysicist and astronomer, and was first seen in print in 1926. The word was from the original German, Haupt Nova.
This comes from Nova (plural novae) which means "new" in Latin.
Since supernovas can be observed from earth with the naked eye they have been observed in prehistory (some archeaologists believe that ancient wall paintings depict supernovae) However the first person to ever record one was in 185BC by Chinese and Islamic observers.
A supernova is created when a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and can no longer support itself against gravity. The star then collapses under its own weight, causing a violent explosion that releases an immense amount of energy and creates a bright burst of light. This explosion can outshine an entire galaxy for a brief period of time.
From 1400 BC to AD 1600, China recorded around 90 novas. Among them the supernova SN1054 [See Link] was the first supernova confirmed by modern radio astronomers. A British astronomer in 1731, discovered an oblong cloud"" over China. After observation, calculation and analysis by several astronomers, it was proved that the crab shaped nebula found in this position was the ruins of a supernova that had shot out of a dense cluster some 900 years previously. i.e. the year of 1054. This discovery was one of the most significant astronomical findings in the 1960s.
Why was the discovery of the Chinese observation of a supernova in Taurus important?
# Ancient records of SN 185 could be the earliest written description of a supernova. # It may have shown that the night sky was not a permanent fixture # It would certainly have "scared" a few people, not knowing what it was
What is the source of all energy?
The Sun is the primary source of energy for most living organisms on Earth. Solar energy is converted into chemical energy through processes like photosynthesis, which then fuels the food chain.
A "supernova" is a nova (Latin "new") explosion of a very large star, creating a nebula of illuminated gas that is one of the most visible of all celestial phenomena.
Remember that a star is a nuclear fusion "engine" that is powered by the fusion of lighter elements to create heavier ones (up through iron). As lighter elements are fused to create heavier ones, energy is released in huge quantities. Gravity holds the star together against the outward force of all the fusion reactions, and the star operates in equilibrium. The extreme energy in the star allows for fusion reactions to continue to occur. But eventually the core of the star is largely sulfur and silicon. The contraction and heating of the star's core allows it to begin massively fusing silicon into iron, and this reaction absorbs energy rather than releasing it.
At some point, the energy created in fusion is insufficient to hold the star "up" against its own gravity, and, having exhausted its "regular" fuel, it will collapse. This is the supernova process. The star collapses causing the outer layers to violently explode outward as gases and dust. The compression of the body of the star in the collapse creates enormous thermal energy that supports the endothermic fusion reactions that create those trans-iron elements (up through uranium). It all occurs in a relatively short period of time. Afterwards, the remnant core may become a super-compressed neutron star, or even a black hole, if the star is massive enough.
Supernovae help enrich the interstellar medium with heavy elements, and shockwaves from the explosion may also trigger star formation. It is believed that the Sun and Solar System formed as a result of a nearby supernova.
While a supernova has not been observed from Earth since 1604, supernova remnants indicate that they occur, on average, about once every 50 years.
What type of astronomer studies supernovas?
By looking for them. Either by telescope or sometimes, with the naked eye. They are one of the most luminous objects in the sky emitting as much energy as our Sun does in it's entire lifetime.
How do super massive black holes form?
It is uncertain how supermassive black holes form. Some scientists suggest they form from the simple collapse of clouds of gas too massive to form stars. They might also originate as large stellar mass black holes that form the the deaths of massive stars and the merge into a single black hole. All supermassive black holes grow by consuming more matter.
When stars inter into the red giant stage from the main-sequence stage, supergiant stars can form. The zone of hydrogen burning expands the star outward leaving an inert helium core. This outward movement causes hydrogen fusion in the outer shell of the star making the star thousands of times larger.
What is the duration of Supernova TV series?
The duration of the Supernova TV series can vary depending on the specific season or episode. Generally, each episode of Supernova lasts around 45 minutes to an hour. The total duration of the entire series will depend on the number of seasons and episodes produced.
To understand a supernova, understand that a star, like our sun, will continue to burn fuel, such as hydrogen into helium for our sun. This process is a constant fight between the outwards pressure of the nuclear fusion and the inwards pressure of the gravity of the mass of the sun.
As long as the sun has enough energy (e.g. fuel) to burn in order to balance the inwards pressure, the sun can exists.
however, when the (hydrogen) fuel runs low, the inwards pressure of the strong gravity may overtake the outwards pressure of the nuclear reaction creating an implosion or collapse of the star.
In larger stars, this collapse can squeeze the molecules so tight that the star explodes in a supernova.
This typically happens when a significant portion of the core is burned into lead which creates very dramatic gravitational pull due to the increased mass together with a relatively low supply of hydrogen.
it's not a candy bar, it's an exploition of light from the sun.
Did a supernova kill dinosaurs?
At the moment, no substantial evidence has been gathered to support the claim that a nearby supernova killed the dinosaurs. Scientists are still trying to determine the best method of finding evidence of this, including looking for signs of past gamma ray radiation on the planet's geology and polar ice caps. Consensus among astronomers is that Gamma Rays from a neighborhood supernova (within a few thousand light years) would induce a chemical reaction in the upper atmosphere converting molecular nitrogen into nitrogen oxides, depleting the ozone layer enough to expose the surface to harmful solar and cosmic radiation. This has been proposed as the cause of the Ordovician-Silurian extinction, which resulted in the death of nearly 60% of oceanic life on Earth.
