{i} (Astronomy) extremely bright star that has exploded due to gravitational collapse of the star's core (characterized by brightness that is up to 100 million times that of the Sun)
A supernova is a cataclysmic explosion caused when a star exhausts its fuel and ends its life Supernovae are the most powerful forces in the universe All of the heavy elements were created in supernova explosions
The explosion of a star causing it to brighten up enormously Historically, they were referred to as ``novae'' or ``new stars'', while the Chinese referred to them as ``guest stars'' Important supernova in the past were: in 134B C , observed by Hipparchus, which led him to make a catalog of stellar positions; in 1054A D in the constellation of Taurus, observed by several days in the daytime by the Chinese and Pueblo Indians in New Mexico, though not a single European recording exists; and in 1572, observed by Tycho Brahe who found the object had no measurable parallax and thus had to be at a distance comparable to the stars
A supernova is the death explosion of a massive star, resulting in a sharp increase in brightness followed by a gradual fading At peak light output, supernova explosions can outshine a galaxy More from NASA
A huge stellar explosion involving the destruction of a massive star and resulting in a sudden and tremendous brightening
the death explosion of a massive star, resulting in a sharp increase in brightness followed by a gradual fading At peak light output, supernova explosions can outshine a galaxy containing a billion stars The outer layers of the exploding star are blasted out in a radioactive cloud This expanding cloud, visible long after the initial explosion fades from view, forms a supernova remnant
An explosion which marks the end of a very massive star's life When it occurs, the exploding star can outshine all of the other stars in the galaxy in total for several days and may leave behind only a crushed core (perhaps a neutron star or black hole) Astronomers estimate that a supernova explosion takes place about once a century in a galaxy like our Milky Way While most supernovae in our Galaxy are probably hidden from our view by interstellar gas and dust, astronomers can detect supernova explosions in other galaxies relatively frequently [See neutron star, black hole]
An explosion caused by the death of a massive star At its peak energy output, a supernova can outshine a galaxy
Exploding star that suddenly attains a luminosity up to 100 million times the Sun's brightness
for Type II supernova: final huge mass-loss stage for a dying high-mass star where the outer layers are ejected during the core's collapse to form a neutron star A Type I supernova is the result of enough hydrogen accreted onto a white dwarf's surface to put the white dwarf beyond the Chandresekhar limit The white dwarf collapses and the super-rapid fusion blows the white dwarf apart (contrast with a nova) The luminosity of a supernova can temporarily be as much as an entire galaxy of billions of stars
Dramatic explosions at the end of stellar lifetimes, in which enormous amounts of energy are released and new elements can be formed
A violent explosion that is the endpoint of the evolution of a massive star Often a compact object is produced such as a neutron star or black hole
An explosive brightening of a star in which the energy radiated by it increases by a factor of 1010 It takes several years to fade and while it lasts dominates the whole galaxy in which it lies It is estimated that there could be a supernova explosion in the Milky Way every 30 years, although only six have actually been observed in the past 1000 years A supernova explosion occurs when a star has burnt up all its available nuclear fuel and the core collapses catastrophically
An extremely violent explosion of a star many times more massive than our Sun During this explosion, the star may become as bright as all the other stars in a galaxy combined, and in which a great deal of matter is thrown off into space at high velocity and high energy The remnant of these massive stars collapse into either a neutron star or a black hole