Download Name - CLC Charter School

Name:
Maya
My Deep Space Mystery Topic:
Parts of
Your Lesson
Title
Introduction
Subtopic 1
Subtopic 2
What I’ll See
Supernovae!
What is a
supernova?
Supernovae
What I’ll Hear
Explosion sound effect
A supernova is a relatively
rare event in our galaxy, it
happens about every 50 to I00
years. A supernova is a stellar
explosion that happens as a
result of the death of a
massive star. It involves the
expulsion of the star’s outer
layers and the eventual
explosion of the star itself.
When a supernova explodes,
briefly it can outshine an
entire galaxy, and give out as
much energy as the sun will in
a life- time, and the explosion
is equivalent to the power in a
I0II8 megaton bomb (i.e., a few
octillion nuclear warheads).
The explosion also fills the
space around it with clouds of
gas, debris and dust.
Sometimes a solar nebula can
form from the remains of the
supernova.
How do supernova
Supernovae occur when the
occur?
star’s core fusion process runs
out of fuel. The outward
pressure drops, causing the
gravitational pull to become
unbalanced. The core starts to
condense under gravity because
there is a lack of outward
pressure. When the core shrinks
too much, iron atoms are
crushed together, temperatures
reach billions of degrees
Celsius, the star swells and
grows and finally a series of
nuclear reactions is unleashed.
The supernova produces a giant
shock wave that throws matter
into space at 9,000 to II5,000
miles per second.
Type Ia, Ib and Ic There are two major classes of
Supernovae
Subtopic 3
Type II Supernova
supernovae, type I and type II.
Out the window is a example of
Ia supernova. Lets get a closer
look. Type I supernova contain
hydrogen in their spectrum, but
Type II do not. Type I
supernovae have several
divisions, type Ia, Ib and Ic.
Type Ia does not contain
helium, but do have a silicon
line in their spectrum. They
are thought to be formed in
some binary star systems and
are created by the explosion of
a carbon oxygen white dwarf.
The type Ia supernova is caused
when the density of the white
dwarf reaches II x I09 g/cm and
the dwarf collapses into a
neutron star or black hole.
The collapse causes the carbon
and oxygen atoms to fuse. This
fusion produces the supernova’s
shockwave and the dwarf star is
blown apart. Type Ib and Ic
supernovae contain helium in
their spectrum, but do not have
the silicon line that appears
in type Ia supernovae. Type Ib
is thought to be formed when a
massive star that is made
mainly of helium, carbon,
nitrogen or oxygen collapses,
also called a Wolf-Rayet star.
The type II supernova occurs at
the end of a star’s life when
the nuclear fuel of the star
runs out. Out the window is
type II supernova. Again lets
get a closer look. If the
star’s iron core is massive
enough, when it collapses, it
will explode in a supernova.
Some scientists think that type
Ib supernovae are actually type
II. The hydrogen was probably
blown away by the huge star’s
strong stellar winds before the
star exploded which explains
the lack of hydrogen in its
spectrum.
Subtopic 4
Black Holes and
Neutron
Stars
Subtopic 5
Observation
History
When the supernova is done
exploding, as an effect of the
large transfer of matter and
energy, there is a very
different kind of star left.
This star is called a spinning
neutron star. Neutron stars
produce radio waves in a steady
stream or in random bursts. But
if a star is massive enough, it
can leave behind something
more. For this to happen
though, the star must be at
least I0 times the size of the
sun. When these stars explode,
their supernova leaves a large
core, and with no energy to
fuse it doesn’t have any
outward pressure, and that
causes it to be very
unbalanced. The star gets
engulfed in its own gravity and
becomes a black hole, as you
can see out the window.
Supernovae occur in our galaxy
about every 50 - 100 years,
however, several hundred are
observed every year in other
nearby galaxies. On earth,
supernovae can be seen for
weeks in the sky. The first
supernova recorded was in I85
AD, called SN I85. It was
recorded by Chinese Astronomers
and was in the sky for 8
months. Some important
supernovae that have happened
over the years are Kepler’s
Supernova in I604, the
supernovae that produced the
Crab Nebula in I054, and the
one that happened in the Large
Effects
Resources
April 14, 2011Supernova
http://en.wikipedi
a.org/wiki/Superno
va#Observation_his
tory
April 14th 2011
Supernovae
http://science.nat
ionalgeographic.co
m/science/space/un
iverse/supernovaearticle.html
April 14th 2011
Supernovae
http://science.nat
ionalgeographic.co
m/science/space/un
iverse/supernovaearticle.html
Magellanic Cloud in I987.
Supernovae place a lot of the
heavy elements and a lot of
other material in our universe.
When a supernova occurs, the
remnants of the original star
remain. These remnants are what
heat up the gases and dusts
between the stars, they also
help new stars form, and they
add elements to space clouds.
Iron that is found in
supernovae made our planet and
even ourselves. Supernova are
amazing to learn about. They
are beautiful to see and the
have effected the development
of our universe. With all the
great things about supernova,
it may surprise you to learn
that unfortunately, some people
think that a supernova will
destroy our solar system. ☹