THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE

TO THE SUPERNOVAE

To start off I would like to say the picture above is not public safety shining a flashlight in someone’s face! Surprised? Wondering what it could be? Well keep reading and you will find out. When looking up at the sky one sees many things. But for most of us we have no clue what we’re looking at. It looks like a star, but in reality it could be one of many, many objects. There is also the occasional time were it has nothing to do with astronomy and is simply a plane or a satellite. Otherwise I would be famous for all the UFOs I’ve discovered. However, of the many objects in the sky one of great interest are the supernovae. Now, when reading this take into account this is the first astronomy course I’ve ever taken in my whole life and therefore my information may not be all that informative, but for me, this is all brand new. For all those people out there who are as bad at science as I am I feel your pain. I intend on making this report as easy as possible to follow. So take a deep breath and join me in the world of 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."

"The supernovae Light Curve shown [above] shows a typical comparison between the light intensity of type one supernovae with that of type two supernovae as a function of the number of days since peak. Type one supernovae is much brighter, but decays much faster than type two supernovae."


 Now the big question is; how on earth did any one ever figure out that the occurrence is a supernova? I will also tell you what astronomers do today in observing supernovae. Now, understand that no report would be complete with out a tidbit from the past. Don’t worry I will make it short and sweet.

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.

Created by Ted Evans

Taevans@bucknell.edu