Supernova - Wikipedia
Supernovae can expel several solar masses of material at speeds up to several percent of the speed of light. This drives an expanding shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium, sweeping up an expanding shell of gas and dust observed as a supernova remnant.
What Is a Supernova? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
Jan 2, 2025 · 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 pressure created by a star’s nuclear burning also keeps that star from collapsing. A star is in balance between two opposite forces.
How a Supernova Works - HowStuffWorks
When the cosmos' most colossal stars go out with a bang, the immense interstellar explosion is known as a supernova. While smaller stars simply fizzle out, the death of an astronomical heavyweight is a showstopper. It has spent its life cannibalizing its own innards -- and sometimes the innards of a solar neighbor -- for fuel.
Life Cycle of a Giant Star - How a Supernova Works - HowStuffWorks
Stars are fueled by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into the slightly denser and heavier element helium. The fusion takes place in the star's core, and the energy it produces flows outward, creating the star's observable glow and preventing the heavy core from collapsing in on itself [source: NASA].
Supernovae Information and Facts | National Geographic
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...
Supernova | Definition, Types, & Facts | Britannica
Dec 25, 2024 · supernova, 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. Supernovae resemble novae in several respects.
DOE Explains...Supernovae | Department of Energy
When the pressure drops low enough in a massive star, gravity suddenly takes over and the star collapses in just seconds. This collapse produces the explosion we call a supernova. Supernovae are so powerful they create new atomic nuclei. As a massive star collapses, it produces a shockwave that can induce fusion in the star’s outer shell.
A Cosmologist Explains All You Need to Know About Supernovae
Apr 17, 2023 · Once a giant star uses up its hydrogen, it begins fusing helium. And after that, it will fuse helium into carbon and oxygen. And after that, silicon and magnesium. Eventually, it will start...
Imagine the Universe!
Sep 23, 2021 · They heat up the interstellar medium, distribute heavy elements throughout the Galaxy, and accelerate cosmic rays. But what causes a star to explode? And is there more than one type of supernova?
Introduction to Supernova Remnants - NASA
May 11, 2011 · In the early stages of its life (the main sequence stage), a star resists gravity with thermal pressure, as the fusion of elements in its core releases energy which heats up the star's gas. The hot gas expands, exerting an outward pressure that balances the inward force of gravity.
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