As seen on #Cosmos: Supernova

14 Apr 2014 admin In G+ Posts Tags: , , , , ,

This is what my neck feels like tonight….

Originally shared by +NASA

As seen on #Cosmos: Supernova

A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space.

Supernovas are often seen in other galaxies. But supernovas are difficult to see in our own Milky Way galaxy because dust blocks our view. In 1604, Johannes Kepler discovered the last observed supernova in the Milky Way. NASA’s Chandra telescope discovered the remains of a more recent supernova. It exploded in the Milky Way more than a hundred years ago.

A supernova happens where there is a change in the core, or center, of a star. A change can occur in two different ways, with both resulting in a supernova.

The first type of supernova happens in binary star systems. Binary stars are two stars that orbit the same point. One of the stars, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf, steals matter from its companion star. Eventually, the white dwarf accumulates too much matter. Having too much matter causes the star to explode, resulting in a supernova.

The second type of supernova occurs at the end of a single star’s lifetime. As the star runs out of nuclear fuel, some of its mass flows into its core. Eventually, the core is so heavy that it cannot withstand its own gravitational force. The core collapses, which results in the giant explosion of a supernova. The sun is a single star, but it does not have enough mass to become a supernova.

Seen here is Cassiopeia A, among the best-studied supernova remnants. This image blends data from NASA's Spitzer (red), Hubble (yellow), and Chandra (green and blue) observatories.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/CXC/SAO
#supernova #universe #stars #nasa #space

 

Comments: 9

  1. Who

  2. Sandra Parlow 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    me too… I just finished trying to massage the knots out of it.. ugh.

  3. Brent Burzycki 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    +Sandra Parlow its much easier to have someone else do that.. unless you are triple jointed…

  4. Sandra Parlow 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    or you have a shiatsu massager.. God I love that thing..

  5. Brent Burzycki 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    +Sandra Parlow so thats what they call it..

  6. Sandra Parlow 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    ha ah a hahahaha!!

    well, it's relaxing, at any rate… ;P

  7. Brent Burzycki 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    🙂

  8. Sandra Parlow 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    hope you feel better soon, hun..

  9. Brent Burzycki 14 Apr 2014 Reply

    if not I will be shiatshuing something..

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