Table of Contents
How is a supernova formed?
A star is in balance between two opposite forces. The star’s gravity tries to squeeze the star into the smallest, tightest ball possible. The collapse happens so quickly that it creates enormous shock waves that cause the outer part of the star to explode!” That resulting explosion is a supernova.
Why we are made of stardust?
Stars are like nuclear reactors. They take a fuel and convert it to something else. Hydrogen is formed into helium, and helium is built into carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, iron and sulfur—everything we’re made of. So most of the material that we’re made of comes out of dying stars, or stars that died in explosions.
What produces a type I supernova?
A type I supernova is caused by a white dwarf and a type II supernova is caused by a massive star.
How do supernovas become black holes?
Stellar-mass black holes are born when very massive stars (typically tens of solar masses) explode in supernovae. These explosions are some of the most energetic phenomena in the universe. In a supernova, the outer layers of a dying star are violently ejected into space, while the remaining core collapses under its own weight to form a black hole.
How powerful is a supernova?
The explosion annihilates most of the star as well as anything nearby. While your average supernova generates roughly 10 44 joules of energy — about the same amount that our sun produces over 10 billion years — a super-luminous supernova, like the one discussed here, can explode with up to 50 times more energy.
What happens after a supernova?
What happens to the star after the supernova depends on how big it was to begin with. If the star was only a few times bigger than the Sun, the core will shrink into a tiny neutron star only a few miles across. If the star was much bigger than the Sun, the core will shrink down to a black hole.