What is a Supernova

A supernova is a powerful and bright explosion of a star. This phenomenon occurs at the end of a star's lifecycle, especially for those with a large mass. There are a few types of supernovae, and they occur under different circumstances.

Type I Supernovae: These do not have hydrogen lines in their spectra and they have a consistent absolute magnitude. The most common of these, a Type Ia supernova, occurs in a binary star system. One of the two stars is a white dwarf—the remnant of a star that has exhausted its nuclear fuel—while the other can be any kind of star, from a giant star to an even smaller white dwarf. The white dwarf accretes matter from its companion star until it reaches a critical mass (about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun, known as the Chandrasekhar limit). The pressure and temperature reach a point at which carbon and oxygen nuclei undergo a thermonuclear explosion, resulting in a supernova. The entire white dwarf is disrupted, leaving no remnant behind.

Type II Supernovae: These supernovae show hydrogen lines in their spectra. A Type II supernova results from the rapid collapse and violent explosion of a massive star (at least 8 times the mass of the Sun). Unlike Type Ia supernovae, the star is alone, not in a binary system. A star of this size will undergo various stages of nuclear fusion in its core, creating elements up to iron. When the core is mostly iron, it can no longer support the weight of the outer layers of the star, and it collapses under its own gravity. This leads to an immense shock wave that causes the outer part of the star to explode.

Supernovae are significant for a few reasons. They are a key source of elements heavier than iron in the universe, as these elements can only be formed in the extreme conditions of a supernova explosion. Also, the shock waves from supernovae can trigger the formation of new stars. Supernovae can also leave behind interesting objects such as neutron stars or black holes.

Who discovered Supernovas

Supernovae have been recorded throughout history. Ancient cultures, including the Chinese, Arabs, and Europeans, documented star explosions as guest stars or new stars. Some of these historical records are now interpreted as likely observations of supernovae.

The most famous of these ancient supernovae are SN 1054, which created the Crab Nebula, observed by Chinese and Arab astronomers, and SN 1006, which was the brightest recorded star ever seen and was documented in China, Japan, Europe, and possibly North America.

As for the modern scientific understanding and classification of supernovae, this began in the early 20th century. The term "supernova" was coined by Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky and American astronomer Walter Baade in 1931. They proposed that supernovae were a different type of celestial event from the novae that were commonly observed at the time. Novae involve an explosion on a white dwarf's surface, while supernovae involve the complete destruction of a star.

Zwicky and Baade also proposed that supernovae could create neutron stars, and that the cosmic rays (high-energy particles from space) detected on Earth could be the remnants of supernovae explosions.

The different types of supernovae (Type I and Type II) were classified in the 1940s based on their spectral lines, and this work has been expanded and refined over the decades since. The discovery that Type Ia supernovae have a consistent peak brightness, which makes them useful as standard candles for measuring cosmic distances, was a crucial breakthrough in the late 20th century.

So, while the observation of supernovae goes back to ancient times, our modern understanding of these events is the result of work by many scientists over the course of the 20th century.

Do all stars go Supernova

No, not all stars go supernova. The fate of a star depends primarily on its mass:

• Low-Mass Stars (up to around 8 times the mass of the Sun): These stars, which include our Sun, do not explode as supernovae. When they exhaust their nuclear fuel, they expel their outer layers to create a cloud of gas called a planetary nebula. What remains of the star compresses under gravity to form a white dwarf, which cools and fades over billions of years.
• High-Mass Stars (over about 8 times the mass of the Sun): These stars end their lives in a supernova explosion. When they exhaust their nuclear fuel, the core collapses under its own gravity in a matter of seconds. This creates a shock wave that makes the star explode as a supernova. Depending on the mass of the original star, the core that remains after the supernova can form a neutron star or, if it's massive enough, a black hole.

So, while supernovae are some of the most dramatic events in the universe, they represent only a small fraction of stellar deaths. Most stars end their lives more quietly as white dwarfs.

What is the closest start to the solar system that will go supernova

The closest star to our solar system that is expected to go supernova is Betelgeuse, located in the constellation of Orion. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star, one of the largest and most luminous stars visible from Earth. It's roughly 650 light years away.

Betelgeuse is near the end of its life and will eventually explode as a supernova. When this happens, it will become incredibly bright, possibly as bright as the full moon and visible during the day. However, predicting exactly when it will go supernova is challenging; it could be tomorrow, or it could be a million years from now.

Although Betelgeuse's eventual supernova will be a spectacular sight from Earth, it's far enough away that it poses no danger to us. As a general rule, a supernova would need to be within a few tens of light years of Earth to pose a significant threat to life here, and fortunately, there are no stars that massive that close to us.

How long will it take after Betelgeuse goes supernova for us to see it

The light from a supernova, like any light or other electromagnetic radiation in the universe, travels at the speed of light. This is approximately 299,792 kilometers per second (or about 186,282 miles per second) in a vacuum.

Betelgeuse, the star you asked about earlier, is approximately 650 light-years away from us. A "light-year" is the distance that light travels in one year.

So, if Betelgeuse were to explode and become a supernova, the light from that explosion would take about 650 years to reach us here on Earth.

In other words, if we were to observe Betelgeuse exploding in 2023, that would mean the actual explosion occurred around the year 1373, and the light from that event is only just reaching us now. This is one of the fascinating aspects of astronomy: when we look at distant objects, we are essentially looking back in time.

After the initial burst, the supernova will start to fade. However, it will likely remain visible to the naked eye for many months, possibly up to a year or so, as the ejected material expands and cools.

Even after the light has faded from view to the naked eye, astronomers will be able to observe the remnants of the supernova for centuries to come with telescopes. The material ejected from the explosion will continue to expand and interact with the surrounding interstellar medium, providing valuable information on the processes involved in the death of a star.

Remember, however, this timeline is somewhat speculative. The precise details will depend on many factors, including the specifics of the star's mass, composition, and the physics of the explosion. Also, while Betelgeuse is nearing the end of its life in astronomical terms, this still means it could go supernova tomorrow, or it could not explode for a hundred thousand years or more.