TO THE SUPERNOVAE
To start off we should discuss just what exactly a supernova is. David Burrows, from Penn State, states the definition in a nice and simple manner. He said "Supernova remnants are the dramatic objects produced by the violent explosion of a massive star at the end of its life." Now I hate to do this, but we must get a little technical. Obviously if the star explodes; then that means there must be something in the inside of the star. But what could it be? Give up? A star is made of hydrogen and helium. The ratio of the core being roughly 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. These two elements fuse together and release energy allowing us to see the star we see. But like most relationships, especially in college, they end.
In this case hydrogen runs out and forces helium to fuse into other elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. What happens is the core’s nuclei of the star grows larger and larger until it turns into iron/nickel. When this occurs hope you’re not within a few thousand light years because "In the resulting explosion, the outer layers of the star are blown out into space with a velocity of up to 10,000 km/s." For those of you reading this and thinking to yourselves, "I would sure like to learn more about this topic," then click here. Do it! You won’t be hurting my feelings or anything! L
For those of you deciding to stick with me I will
now tell you the two types of supernovas. The names are actually simple.
As a matter of fact the names are probably the easiest in all of astronomy.
You ready? The names are: Type one supernovae AND type two. Put the pain
killers down and let me explain these to you.
TYPE ONE SUPERNOVAE:
This phenomenon involves "two stars, one of them
being a white dwarf
whose gravitational attraction is so intense that it is capable of siphoning
off material from its companion. Unfortunately for the star (but fortunately
for us at a long distance!), the white dwarf exceeds the Chandrasekhar
limit (I have no idea what this is or what it
means. By all means knock your self out and check out the official site
and if you do figure it out…good for you!!! This page is for astronomy
dummies like myself. If you understand then you most likely should not
be reading my page!!!) of stability causing it to go into thermonuclear
instability and produces one of the largest explosions known in the universe."
So basically we need to remember that once the core of a star dies out
the core can no longer sustain the pressure from the outside and a massive
explosion will occur
TYPE TWO SUPERNOVAE:
After reviewing my notes it appears that I have already mentioned a type two supernovae. Guess where. Just kidding! Basically a type two supernovae is where the hydrogen expires and the remaining helium turns into carbon and then eventually after a while into iron. "The expanding iron and the collapsing outer gases collide with each other producing tremendous shock waves which blow the outer layers away from the core, thus causing the supernova’s gigantic explosion."
Good and bad news. The bad news is we in the Milky Way have not had a supernova explosion for some time. As a matter of fact the last time a supernova explosion occurred in the Milky Way is when Johannes Kepler discovered one in 1604 with the naked eye. So if you are capable of basic math skills you know it’s been almost 400 years since we’ve had one in our galaxy. The good news is that with advanced equipment, such as high powered telescopes, scientists are able to see supernova explosions in galaxies far away. As a matter of fact the picture shown below is a supernovae explosion that occurred, in The Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy not far away from ours, in 1987. Because of the relatively close distance this explosion was also seen with the naked eye.
The supernova has been found and with technology
improving every day our understanding of the explosion will become even
greater. The Hubbell Telescope allows us to enjoy the scientific wonders
the vast universe bestows upon us. With technological improvements it does
not seem far fetched to be able to calculate the exact time of a supernova
explosion, but at the same time give us a greater understanding as to why
it occurs. Our understanding as of now may be correct, but a new invention
may allow us to get more detailed information and a better understanding
of the universe we live in. So next you look at the sky just remember,
its not just a white thing, it’s a star, and one day that star could become
a supernova.
REFERENCES:
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/supernovae.html
http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Kepler.html
http://www.astro.psu.edu/deptinfo/research/Ground_Analysis/supernova.html
http://www.chapman.edu/oca/benet/intro_sn.htm
http://legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/snr.html
ASTRONOMY: FROM THE EARTH TO THE UNIVERSE (fifth
edition), by Pasachoff, Jay M, published in 1998 by Saunders College Publishing.