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Jun 6, 2024 · 256-544-0034. jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov. Last Updated. Around the world, professional and amateur astronomers alike are closely watching T Coronae Borealis – the “Blaze Star,” a binary system some 3,000 light-years from Earth – waiting for an impending nova explosion event so bright it will be visible on Earth with the naked eye.
A supernova ( pl.: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to a neutron star or black hole, or is completely ...
- What Causes A Supernova?
- How Bright Are Supernovas?
- How Common Are Supernovas?
- What Can We Learn from Supernovas?
- How Do Scientists Study Supernovas?
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One type of supernova is caused by the “last hurrah” of a dying massive star. This happens when a star at least five times the mass of our sun goes out with a fantastic bang! Massive stars burn huge amounts of nuclear fuel at their cores, or centers. This produces tons of energy, so the center gets very hot. Heat generates pressure, and the pressur...
These spectacular events can be so bright that they outshine their entire galaxies for a few days or even months. They can be seen across the universe.
Not very. Astronomers believe that about two or three supernovas occur each century in galaxies like our own Milky Way. Because the universe contains so many galaxies, astronomers observe a few hundred supernovas per year outside our galaxy. Space dust blocks our view of most of the supernovas within the Milky Way.
Scientists have learned a lot about the universe by studying supernovas. They use the second type of supernova (the kind involving white dwarfs) like a ruler, to measure distances in space. They have also learned that stars are the universe’s factories. Stars generate the chemical elements needed to make everything in our universe. At their cores, ...
NASA scientists use a number of different types of telescopes to search for and then study supernovas. One example is the NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission, which uses X-ray vision to investigate the universe. NuSTAR is helping scientists observe supernovas and young nebulas to learn more about what happens leading up to, durin...
Learn about the causes, types, brightness, and effects of supernovas, the biggest explosions in the universe. Find out how NASA scientists use telescopes to study these spectacular events and what they reveal about the origin of elements and the expansion of space.
Mar 22, 2024 · (A nova is different from a supernova explosion, which occurs when a massive star collapses and dies.) At its peak, the eruption should be visible to the naked eye, Schaefer said: “It’s going ...
Jun 15, 2024 · Learn about supernovae, the explosive events that end the lives of massive stars and create many of the elements in the universe. Find out the types, history, and examples of supernovae, and how they are observed and studied by astronomers.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jun 19, 2023 · A supernova is the explosion of a massive star. There are many different types of supernovae, but they can be broadly separated into two main types: thermonuclear runaway or core-collapse. This ...
Nov 12, 2020 · A supernova is the cataclysmic explosion of a massive star at the end of its life. Learn about the different types of supernovae, their causes, effects and examples, and how they are classified by their spectra.
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