Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Supernova refers to a stellar explosion which produces more energy than a nova (Parker 12-23). It is extremely luminous, and it usually causes a burst of radiation which significantly outshines the entire galaxy. It then fades from viewing after several weeks or even months. During this interval, a supernova is a capable of producing as much energy as that the sun can produce on its expected life span (Parker 12-23). In addition, the explosion usually expels much or even all of the materials of the star at a velocity of 300000 kilometers per second. During this explosion, it drives a shock wave into the interstellar medium surrounding it. The shock wave then sweeps up the expanding gas shell as well as dust referred to as supernova remnant (Marschal 2-4).
A supernova explosion releases a substantial amount of radio waves as well as X-rays. In addition, it also releases cosmic rays (Parker 12-23). A supernova explosion also releases majority of the heavy elements which make up the constituents of the solar system into the interstellar medium. A reliable research indicates that abundance of these heavy elements is greater than normal (Marschal 2-4). This implies that these elements do not form during the explosion as many may tend to argue. The supernova remnant shell continues to expand significantly until at an advanced age, where it then dissolves completely into the interstellar medium. This supernova attained magnitude of 4.5 in just after few hours, making it visible with naked eyes (Parker 12-23).
There are two broad categories of supernovae. These are Type I and Type II. This classification is according to what they detonate (Parker 12-23). A type I supernova is usually three times brighter than a Type II supernova. In addition, unlike Type II, Type I contains no hydrogen lines and they usually expand about twice as rapidly as Type II. Type I supernova results from binary systems in which a white dwarf of carbon-oxygen becomes an accreting matter from a companion (Marschal 2-4).
Type II supernova, on the other hand, usually occurs at the end of a massive star lifetime, when its nuclear fuel becomes exhausted. This implies that it becomes no longer supported by the production of nuclear energy. If the star' core is massive enough, it will then collapse to become a Type II supernova (Parker 12-23). Before the 17th century, the number of recorded supernovae was only seven. One of the most famous supernovae is the Crab Nebula, whose remnants are still visible today.
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant as well as a pulsar wind nebula which is in the constellation of Taurus (Marschal 2-4).…
References
Chevillard, E-ric, Jordan Stump, and Eleanor Hardin. The Crab Nebula =: La Ne-buleuse Du Crabe. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. Print.
Marschall, Laurence A. The Supernova Story. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2006. Print
Parker, CL. Supernova. Waxahachie, Tex: Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House, 2011. Print.
Hubble Space Telescope As the world's first Earth-orbiting reflecting telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) represents the culmination of the dreams of many astronomers and the fulfillment of a hope that began in the 1950's when the United States launched instruments into space in order to study the Earth's atmosphere. Our planetary speck in space, namely the Earth, is only one of hundreds of billions of planets that surely orbit
Stars are one of the important heavenly objects of our universe. The sun is our closest star and is responsible for the sustenance of all life on earth. Understanding the intricate chemical reactions that are happening in the star and identifying the composition of the stars has always been a fascinating study for astronomer's worldover. The sun our closest star has been the most studied object in the universe. Spectroscopy
Of those 1,235, 68 are estimated to be Earth-size; 288 are super Earth-size; 662 are Neptune-size; 165 are the size of Jupiter, and 19 are larger than Jupiter (Science Daily). Of the 54 planet candidates that have been found in the habitable zone, five are near Earth-size. The other 49 left in the habitable zone range from super-Earth-size (up to twice the size of the Earth) -- to larger than
The Moon is believed by many to have been part of the earth and that it was tore off as a result of an initial spin that was too great to hold the planet together. One of the prevailing theories was that involving an impact of large magnitude involving the newly formed Earth and a giant object of the size of Mars hitting Earth and blowing up material that
Extra-Solar Planets The word planet means "wanderer" in Greek. It derives from the fact that planets within our solar system seem generally to wander eastward about the so-called fixed stars across the zodiac constellations (Kolb). There is no clear consensus precisely defining what constitutes a planet, as distinguished from brown dwarfs, which are the material remnants of burned out ancient stars whose masses where too small to form white dwarfs or