Supernovae By Connor Caldwell What is a Supernova

Supernovae By Connor Caldwell

What is a Supernova? Definition: A supernova is an extremely luminous stellar explosion that results in the more or less death of a star The reason stars supernova is because of a limit of mass is reached, and then exceeded, causing the star to implode, pushing everything off the layers above with an amazing amount of energy Mass and temperature increase in the core means larger elements (such as iron and carbon) begin to build until the star explodes, sending out all those elements into the universe and also creating even heavier elements in the blast http: //www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_detailpage&v=jy 4 Muy. ZNu Zk

Why They Happen Supernovas occur in two different types: • Type I is caused when a star accumulates matter by a neighboring star and a nuclear reaction ignites (white dwarf in binary system) • Type II is caused when a star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses under its own gravity (main sequence star)

The Impact During the Cold War, the United States developed hydrogen bombs with a maximum theoretical yield of 25 megatons (~10 15 Joules) A Supernova releases as much energy as the Sun emits in it's entire life or 1044 joules which is about ten octillion megatons of TNT (~10 28 joules) So you'd need about 10 trillion (~1013) of the most powerful hydrogen bombs to equal a supernova

The Aftermath • The Type I supernova only yields a supernova remnant, a cloud of gradually cooling gas, after the explosion. Even the core of the white dwarf is vaporized. • The Type II supernova yields one of three objects after the explosion: a neutron star, a pulsar (spinning neutron star), or a black hole

1987 A Supernova The 1987 A supernova is the most recent supernova that has occurred as far as we know. The event of its collapse was 166, 000 years ago, but it took all this time for its light to reach Earth • Discovered February 23, 1987 • Located in the Magellanic Cloud

What it Produces The intense heat and pressure of a supernova causes the build of atoms and the creation of heavier and heavier elements, which then get scattered into space when the explosion happens

Bibliography • What is a Supernova, 04 May 2009, http: //www. space. com/6638 supernova. html • Supernovae, http: //science. nationalgeographic. com/science/space/universe/supernova e-article/