How would you describe a supernova?
A supernova is the colossal explosion of a star. Scientists have identified several types of supernova. One type, called a “core-collapse” supernova, occurs in the last stage in the life of massive stars that are at least eight times larger than our Sun. As these stars burn the fuel in their cores, they produce heat.
What did Kepler discover about supernova?
Brighter than all other stars and planets at its peak, it was observed by German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who thought he was looking at a new star. Centuries later, scientists determined that what Kepler saw was actually an exploding star, and they named it Kepler’s supernova.
What did Kepler’s supernova look like?
Visible to the naked eye, Kepler’s Star was brighter at its peak than any other star in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of −2.5. It was visible during the day for over three weeks. Records of its sighting exist in European, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic sources.
What is a supernova summary?
A supernova is a large explosion that takes place at the end of a star’s life cycle. On the left is Supernova 1987A after the star has exploded. On the right is the star before it exploded.
What are interesting facts about supernovas?
Supernovae are natural space laboratories; they can accelerate particles to at least 1000 times the energy of particles in the Large Hadron Collider, the most powerful collider on Earth. The interaction between the blast of a supernova and the surrounding interstellar gas creates a magnetized region, called a shock.
What is a supernova made of?
Iron atoms become crushed so closely together that the repulsive forces of their nuclei create a recoil of the squeezed core—a bounce that causes the star to explode as a supernova and give birth to an enormous, superheated, shock wave.
Where is Kepler’s supernova?
The Kepler supernova remnant is the debris from a detonated star that is located about 20,000 light years away from Earth in our Milky Way galaxy.
Did Kepler observe a supernova?
Supernova 1604 has long been referred to as “Kepler’s Supernova,” after astronomer Johannes Kepler, who was one of the first to observe it.
How was Kepler’s supernova formed?
The Kepler supernova was triggered by a white dwarf that reached a critical mass after interacting with a companion star and exploded. In this new sequence of the four Chandra images of Kepler’s supernova remnant, red, green, and blue reveal the low, medium, and high-energy X-rays respectively.
Can you see Kepler’s supernova?
In 1604, astronomers glimpsed the fiery death of a star in the distant universe by its supernova. Today, more than 400 years later, the debris of that explosion can still be seen. This aftermath is known as Kepler’s supernova.
Why is a supernova called a supernova?
supernova, plural supernovae or supernovas, any of a class of violently exploding stars whose luminosity after eruption suddenly increases many millions of times its normal level. The term supernova is derived from nova (Latin: “new”), the name for another type of exploding star.