Do stars have the ability to explode? How and why does this happen? Stars do have the ability to explode. When stars explode it is called a supernova. They are the most energetic events that occur in our universe (Chaisson and McMillan, 548) . Supernovas occur when the fusion inside the stars core slows down and under the force of gravity the core to starts to shrink, thus causing the star to become much hotter and denser. When the fusion process ends it leaves mainly iron inside of the core (Dove). The star goes supernova when the internal temperature of the star reaches about one billion degrees Celsius, all of the iron particle that are left inside the star that are all smashed together start to repel against one another (Dove). This causes the core of the star to shrink even more, eventually causing it to explode, thus causing a supernova (Thompson). It takes only a few seconds for a star to go supernova. Only giant stars bigger than our sun have the ability to go supernova. Even though our sun is not big enough to explode as a supernova, it will swell into a red giant that will likely vaporize earth before cooling into a white dwarf (Thompson).
The light that is given off after a supernova explosion is bright enough to last for several days in its galaxy, this light that is given off is usually billions of times greater than the light given off by our sun. It is bright enough to hide other stars and on occasion other galaxies for days, weeks or even sometimes months until the light dies out (Dove). By looking through even the most basic binoculars, we are sometimes able to see supernovas that happen outside of our galaxy because their light is so bright. Others we are not able to see because comic dust from past supernov...
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...ps us be able to predict how future supernovas will impact the entire universe (Dove). They also use supernovas to determine when the objects around it will die and possibly go supernova. Supernovas have helped astronomers around the world learn more and more about our universe and what happens inside of it.
Works Cited
Thompson, Andrea. “What is a supernova?” .Space.com. Techmedia Network. May 4,2009, Web. 10/27/13.
Dove, Laurie L. “How a Supernova Works” HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks Inc. 2013.Web. 10/29/13.
“Supernovae”. National Geographic.NationalGeographic.com. NationalGeographicSociety. 2013. Web.11/2/13
“Supernovae”. Supernova. Goddard Space Flight Center. 2011. Web.11/3/13
Wall, Jennifer.” What is a supernova?” NASA. NASA Official.9/18/13. Web. 11/3/13.
Chaisson and McMillan. Astronomy Today. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall Inc. 2002. Print.
A supernova remnant is a cloud of gas created in the explosion of a star as a supernova. Located 6,300 light years away, the Crab Nebula (M1) is one of the most famous supernova remnants and is one of only a few historically observed supernovae in the Milky Way Galaxy. It is specifically located at right ascension 5 hour...
...e realization that telescopes were for far more than just looking at and charting the stars and that there is so much more out there than just our eyes can see. Through the Hale telescope, new theories formed about how the stars and galaxies formed and evolved. Hale helped establish the then new science of astrophysics and through that, we have learned not only of objects existing space unseen to the naked eye or lesser telescopes, and it helped us not only learn where objects were but also what they were and if they changed over time or remained the same. The discovery of Dwarf Planets were possible due to the hale. Through Hale, our view of the universe changed, boundaries disappeared, curiosity grew, a nation and the world were enriched, and dreams became possibilities and knowledge. Yes, The Hale telescope truly opened up the skies in ways we never imagined.
However, galactic interactions do often share many characteristics. The most notable feature associated with interacting galaxies is often the “starburst” phenomenon. A starburst is an extremely high rate of star formation over part or all of a galaxy over a cosmologically short period of time (possibly a few billion years as opposed to several billion years). Galaxy interactions cause gravitational instabilities in interstellar gas clouds, which compress the gas in the clouds and trigger star formation (Mouri 2003). When astronomers look at an ongoing starburst in a distant galaxy, they see the starburst as a bluer region than the surrounding parts of the host galaxy. That is due to the extremely hot and energetic, yet short lived, O-type stars produced in the burst, which outshine all of the other stars being born around them as well as the older, redder stars that populate the galaxy.
They’re carbon stars, a unique type of variable star, which accumulate soot in their upper atmosphere that scatters light near the blue end of the spectrum. What’s left for us to view is the red component of a star’s light. As the carbon particles build up, the star fades in brightness and gets even redder. Eventually, the carbon absorbs enough radiation to escape the star, and the cycle starts over again.
...e Hubble would never have been made without Galileo perfected the original telescope. Also, the telescope has come a very long way from what it used to be. The thought of having a telescope in space able to take pictures of celestial objects outside of the Milky Way never even came close to crossing scientists minds. All the pictures the Hubble has taken have been released to the public allowing people of all ages to marvel at their beauty. Many people enjoy looking and learning from the photographs. In the future the James Webb Space Telescope will hopefully further scientists knowledge about space. The Hubble had executed its tasks perfectly even though it had some troubles along its way. The James Webb Space Telescope will hopefully live up to the expectations the Hubble has set with the astounding contributions to astronomy and science that the Hubble had made.
The extreme brightness of the O-type and B-type stars, coupled with the Earth’s atmosphere, has always made high-resolution imaging of the star-forming region difficult. But recent advances in adaptive optics and the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope have allowed for incredible detail into the center of the dust cloud. 3 The technological advances have also helped reveal several faint stars within the center of the nebula.
Understanding more about sunspots, their cycle, radiation, and magnetic properties will facilitate scientists to unlock the mysterious workings of the Sun. With today’s technology this understanding will come more quickly. Knowledge of sunspots may lead us to be able to predict when solar activity could affect the Earth like it did during the solar max in 1989. Information like this could eventually allow us to be able to protect ourselves from solar radiation.
When itBetelgeuse cannot fuse anymore anything over iron, the star will not have enough energy to make heat. Eventually, the core will collapse. When Betelgeuse collapses, it is so strong and powerful that it causes the outer layers to rebound. With the rebound it will have an explosion, which is called a Supernova (Type two). The explosion has so much energy and power that the temperature becomes really hot. The temperature is so hot that it can use the fusion process much heavier than iron. The elements that were given off from the explosion are sent throughout space and are now new nebula. When the Supernova is done, it has left behind a star called a Neutron star. They form when atoms of the core of a dead star are crushed together and the end result produces neutrons. The neutrons are with electrons that are degenerate on the surface. Many Neutron stars have magnetic fields and they give off strong waves of radiation from their poles. These types of Neutron Stars are known as Pulsars.
Tyler, Pat. Supernova. NASA’s Heasarc: Education and Public Information. 26 Jan. 2003. 22 Nov. 2004
Overall we can get a pretty good insight on how or Solar System was formed, yes there are still certain aspects of it that are hard to make sense of, as well as debates over which theory is correct, such as Core Accretion vs. Disk Instability, but overall I feel it is pretty amazing what we have learned about the nature of system and look forward to future discoveries.
There are two types of ways a Supernova can be triggered. The first trigger is the result of a white dwarf accumulating matter from a companion. This causes the dwarf to reach a core temperature too high to survive which in turn makes an explosion. The second trigger is when a star’s nuclear fuel is diminishing and can no longer support the release of nuclear energy. If the star’s core is large enough it will breakdown and become a supernova. Most observations of a supernova are made through spectral lines. Classification agrees with the physical classification, because large stars are made of mostly hydrogen, while white dwarf stars are plain. White dwarfs have a bare surrounding because the original star’s explosion was so great that the winds pushed the hydrogen away.
Many people who live on Earth are close minded to what is really out there in the universe. They cannot even begin to fathom the vastness of it and how Earth is just a tiny little speck compared to everything else out there. From the planets to the stars and out towards the edge of the unknown, we can only see what science provides us with. From this, we know that we are nothing but a tiny planet located in a solar system of millions in a galaxy of many more in the universe.
Even though we know a great amount more than the astronomers in the past, there is still an even larger amount we do not know about the universe to this day. Even our own solar system contains many questions yet to be answered. Some of these include the possibility of a planet beyond Pluto (Planet X), the means by which the system was created, and even the possibility of a sister star to the Sun named Nemesis. Another astronomical mystery is the creation of the universe. In time, many questions will be answered but some will always remain. Astronomy is something that will never be completely understood.
The scientists didn't stop here. In their desire to better understand the universe, they designed The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) or the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that has been planned for launching in 2018. It is designed to make observations in the visible to the mid-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum.