![]() These probably involve collisions between stars, white dwarfs and even neutron stars.Īs you've probably heard, physicists use particle accelerators to create more massive elements on the Periodic Table. There are probably other, even more rare events that can trigger supernovae, and even more powerful hypernovae and gamma ray bursts. Since they know how much energy it detonated with, astronomers can calculate the distance to the explosion. When the stolen amount reaches 1.4 times the mass of the sun, the white dwarf explodes as a supernova and completely vaporizes.īecause of this 1.4 ratio, astronomers use Type Ia supernovae as "standard candles" to measure distances in the universe. What matters is that they're close enough that the white dwarf can steal matter from its partner, and build it up like a smothering blanket of potential explosiveness. In a Type Ia supernova, a white dwarf (left) draws matter from a companion star until its mass hits a limit which leads to collapse and then explosion. So once all the helium is used up, the fusion reactions stop and the sun becomes a white dwarf and starts cooling down. Our sun, doesn't have the mass to support fusion reactions with elements beyond hydrogen or helium. This reaction releases energy in the form of photons, and this light pressure pushes against the force of gravity trying to pull the star in on itself. Stars, as you know, convert hydrogen into fusion at their core. We've done a whole show about that process, so if you want to watch it now, you can click here. These are the supernovae produced when massive stars die. I know this sounds a little counter intuitive, but let's start with the Type II first. ![]() There are two main types of supernovae, the Type I and the Type II. In fact, supernovae come in different flavours, starting from different kinds of stars, ending up with different kinds of explosions, and producing different kinds of remnants. ![]() Faster than it take me to say the word supernova, a complete star collapses in on itself, creating a black hole, forming the denser elements in the universe, and then exploding outward with the energy of millions or even billions of stars.īut not in all cases. ![]()
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