Type II Supernova Stars exist in a delicate balance between their own gravity and the fusion engine they ignite. The sheer mass of a star is enough to crush lighter elements together into heavier ones, which releases energy. Enough energy released in this fashion can exert a physical pressure...
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 first type happens in binary star systems where at least one star is a white dwarf, and they'...
What is a supernova explosion? Star Life Cycles: Stars are formed when parts of dense clouds of interstellar gas (called a nebula) collapse in on their own gravity. The star begins to emerge from this, producing its own energy through the process of nuclear fusion. Stars will continue to ...
While gravity is always trying to crush a star, what keeps most stars from collapsing is either ongoing fusion, or in cores where fusion has stopped, the fact that you can’t pack the atoms any tighter. In an electron capture supernova, some of the electrons in the oxygen—neon—magnesium...
In the case of a planetary nebula, the formation of this deep sky object occurs when a white dwarf star explodes during asupernova. The explosion sends interstellar materials into space that can eventually form into a nebula. Stellar objects that can be called Nebula come in four major classes...
Compared to the sun, a star whose spectrum peaks in the infrared is: 1. cooler 2. hotter 3. larger Which star is hotter: Vega or Pollux? What type of star is the Sun? What is the temperature of the star Vega? How hot is Rigel?
Before a massive star experiences its supernova death, it briefly becomes a Wolf-Rayet star and can outshine the sun millions of times over.
Supernova Explosions By scientific standards, the origin of iron is one of the most violent processes imaginable. A type of star known as a red giant begins to turn all of its helium into carbon and oxygen atoms. Those atoms then begin to turn into iron atoms, the heaviest type of atom...
Supernova remnant: The Crab Nebula Exactly as the name says, this is all that remains of a star that has exploded as a supernova. (Image credit: ESO) Dark nebula: Barnard 68 A giant cloud of dust that blocks light from anything beyond it, looking like a "hole in the sky". The ...
Another type of supernova, called a thermal runaway supernova, can occur when two stars orbit each other, and one or both of those stars is awhite dwarf. White dwarfs are the remains of a star roughly the size of our Sun when it runs out of fuel. If the stars in one of these bi...