Why supernova happens

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Which is an entirely different post for another time. Yes and no. With billions of stars across countless galaxies in our universe, there is a high probability of a star going supernova somewhere.

They are some of the brightest objects humans have ever observed in the night sky and are often seen in other galaxies. But supernovas are difficult to see in our own Milky Way galaxy because dust blocks our view. In , Johannes Kepler discovered the last observed supernova in the Milky Way.

It exploded in the Milky Way more than a hundred years ago. One of the most famous supernovae to be observed by humans was the formation of the Crab Nebula.

In , Chinese astronomers observed an explosion in the sky. This supernova, dubbed SN , was visible for two years before fading into what we now know as the Crab Nebula. Other cultures in Asia recorded the fantastic night explosion, but it was hundreds of years later before the work of pioneering scientists like Edwin Hubble linked the early Chinese texts to the astronomical event they observed. In all, eight supernovae in the Milky Way have been identified thanks to written testimony through the years.

You might be lucky enough to see one! NASA encourages citizens to search the night skies for them. After sifting through images for months, Moore found what turned out to be SN ha, one of the dimmest supernovae on record. Gray looked through photos taken at the Abbey Ridge Observatory taken by a family friend.

In them, she discovered SN It. Finally, here are some gorgeous pictures of supernovae remnants, captured by multiple space telescopes. When the pressure drops low enough in a massive star, gravity suddenly takes over and the star collapses in just seconds.

This collapse produces the explosion we call a supernova. Supernovae are so powerful they create new atomic nuclei. These fusion reactions create new atomic nuclei in a process called nucleosynthesis.

Supernovae are considered one of the original sources of the elements heavier than iron in the Universe. Even the iron in your blood can be traced back to supernovae or similar cosmic explosions from long before our Sun had formed.

Supernovae are thus essential to life. After a core collapse supernova, all that remains is a dense core and hot gas called a nebula. When stars are especially large, the core collapses into a black hole.