This Week’s Astronomy Question about Supernovas
Posted in Education Online, Entertainment Tips, University of Science on August 18th, 2010This week’s question: Why is it that some stars supernova and other stars feature a smaller explosion called a nova? Our astronomer answers: What creates the monster crushing explosion of a supernova from the comparatively tiny explosion that astronomers call a nova pertains to the initial mass of that star. A G-class star like our Sun isn’t large enough to go supernova. Blue and red giant stars do contain adequate mass to explode supernova.Antares in the constellation Scorpius and Betelgeuse and Rigel in the constellation Orion are examples of massive stars that inevitably will explode into a supernova. The star Antares is so huge that if you superimposed this star upon our own solar system, it would be bigger than the full orbital perimeter of the planet Mars. These massive stars actually burn cooler — not hotter as one might assume — than relatively smaller stars like the Sun. When forecasting the kind of explosion a dying star will create, astrophysicists look at the size and age of that star. Our name a star program is fascinating for people because should a nova or supernova explode in their galaxies, it would be prodigious science news. Learn more about how to name a star for yourself, a friend or a loved one at Windowpane Observatory, where astronomers are doing research into novas, supernovas and asteroids headed toward Earth.