Supernova

Definition

A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to a neutron star or black hole, or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula. The peak optical luminosity of a supernova can be comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks or months.

Related concepts

'Abd al-'Aziz al-Wafa'i 1054 supernova 1ES 1927+654 2MASS 3C 273 A-type main-sequence star A0620-00 ACIGA AGATA (gravitational wave detector)AIGO AIP Conference Proceedings ALTAIR (gravitational wave detector)AM Canum Venaticorum star ASASSN-15lh ASP Conference Series AT2018hyz AURIGA Abd al-Rahman al-Jadiri Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Abd al‐Wajid Absolute magnitude Absorption line Abu'l-Fadl Harawi Abu-Mahmud Khojandi Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Marrakushi Abu Ali al-Khayyat Abu Hanifa Dinawari Abu Ishaq al-Kubunani Abu Ja'far al-Khazin Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi Abu Muqri Mohammed al-Battiwi Abu Nasr Mansur Abu Sahl al-Quhi Abu Said Gorgani Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri Abu al-Hasan al-Ahwazi Abu al-Salt Abu al-Wafa' Buzjani Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī Abū al‐ʿUqūl Accelerating universe Accretion (astrophysics)Accretion disk Acrux Active galactic nucleus Adiabatic process Ahmad Nahavandi Ahmad ibn Yusuf Aja'ib al-Makhluqat Al-Adami Al-Ashraf Umar II Al-Azhar University Al-Battani Al-Birjandi Al-Biruni Al-Fadl ibn Naubakht Al-Farghani Al-Isfizari Al-Kharaqī Al-Khazini Al-Khwarizmi Al-Kindi Al-Mahani Al-Nayrizi Al-Qabisi Al-Saghani Al-Samawal al-Maghribi Al-Sijzi Al-Wabkanawi Al-ʻIjliyyah Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar Al Achsasi al Mouakket Alam al-Din al-Hanafi Alex Filippenko Alfonsine tables Alfvén surface Algol variable Ali Qushji Ali ibn Isa al-Asturlabi Ali ibn Khalaf Ali ibn Ridwan Alicia M. Soderberg Alidade Alison Coil All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae Allegro gravitational-wave detector Almucantar Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable Alpha Cygni variable Alpha element Alpha process Alternatives to general relativity Am star Amateur astronomy Analog computer Ancient Greek astronomy Andromeda Galaxy Annual Review of Astronomy & Astrophysics Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science Anomalous X-ray pulsar Antares Ap and Bp stars Aperture Apparent magnitude Apsis Argon Aristotle Armillary sphere Asiago Astrophysical Observatory Asterism (astronomy)Asteroseismology Astrolabe Astrology in the medieval Islamic world Astronomical Journal Astronomical Society of the Pacific Astronomical clock Astronomical spectroscopy Astronomy Astronomy & Astrophysics Astronomy Now Astronomy and Astrophysics Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world Astrophysical Journal Astrophysical Journal Letters Astrophysical jet Astrophysical plasma Astrophysics Astrophysics and Space Science Asymptotic giant branch Athir al-Din al-Abhari Atom interferometer Atomic nucleus Avempace Averroes Avicenna Axial tilt Azimuth Aṣ-Ṣaidanānī B(e) star B-type main-sequence star BKL singularity BL Herculis variable BL Lacertae object BTZ black hole BY Draconis variable Babylonian astronomy Baha' al-din al-'Amili Balmer series Banū Mūsā brothers Barium star Barnard's Loop Basic Books Be/X-ray binary Be star Before Christ Bekenstein bound Beta Centauri Beta Cephei variable Beta Lyrae variable Beta decay Beta plus decay Betelgeuse Big Bang Big Bang Observer Big Bounce Billion Binary black hole Binary pulsar Binary star Binary star system Biodiversity Biosphere Bipolar outflow Black Hole Initiative Black dwarf Black hole Black hole complementarity Black hole electron Black hole information paradox Black hole starship Black hole thermodynamics Black holes in fiction Black star (semiclassical gravity)Blandford–Znajek process Blazar Blitzar Blue dwarf (red-dwarf stage)Blue giant Blue large-amplitude pulsator Blue loop Blue straggler Blue supergiant Blue supergiant star Bok globule Bolometric luminosity Bondi accretion Book of Fixed Stars Boson star Bousso's holographic bound Bright giant Brown-dwarf desert Brown dwarf Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society Burzahom archaeological site Byzantine science CEMP star CH star CLIO CNO cycle CN star Calcium-rich supernova Calcium-rich supernovae Caltech Calán/Tololo Survey Cambridge University Press Carbon Carbon-burning process Carbon burning process Carbon detonation Carbon star Carina Nebula Cassiopeia (constellation)Cassiopeia A Cataclysmic variable star Cauchy horizon Celestial handbook Celestial mechanics Celestial spheres Centaurus Centaurus A Centaurus X-3 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams Cepheid variable Chandra X-ray Observatory Chandrasekhar limit Charge-coupled device Charged black hole Chemical element Chemically peculiar star Chinese astronomy Chinese star names Chirp mass Chromosphere Circular orbit Circumpolar star Circumstellar disc Circumstellar dust Circumstellar envelope Classical Cepheid variable Co-56 Collapsar Color confinement Color index Color–color diagram Common envelope Common envelope jets supernova Compact star Compass Compass rose Compton Gamma Ray Observatory Constantinople observatory of Taqi ad-Din Constellation Contact binary Continental shelves Convection Convection zone Cosmic Explorer (gravitational wave observatory)Cosmic censorship hypothesis Cosmic distance ladder Cosmic dust Cosmic inflation Cosmic microwave background Cosmic ray Cosmic string Cosmology in medieval Islam Crab Nebula Crux Cygnus X-1 D. Reidel DY Persei variable Dark-energy star Dark star (Newtonian mechanics)Dark star (dark matter)Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory Deconfinement Deferent and epicycle Degeneracy pressure Degenerate matter Delta Scuti variable Deneb Derivation of the Schwarzschild solution Deuterium fusion Differential rotation Diffuse nebula Dioptra Direct collapse black hole Doppler shift Double periodic variable Dredge-up Dwarf nova ER = EPR EXPLORER Early-type star Earth Earth's rotation Eclipsing binary Ecliptic Eddington luminosity Effective temperature Egyptian astronomy Ehmedê Xanî Einstein@Home Einstein Telescope Electromagnetic radiation Electron Electron capture Electron capture supernova Electron degeneracy pressure Electron neutrino Electronvolt Electroweak star Elementary particle Elliptic orbit Elliptical galaxy Emission line Emission spectrum Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity Energy Equant Equatorial ring Equatorium Ergosphere Eta Carinae Europe European Gravitational Observatory European Pulsar Timing Array European science in the Middle Ages Event horizon Exotic star Expansion of the universe Explosion Extinction (astronomy)Extremal black hole Extreme helium star Extreme mass ratio inspiral F-type main-sequence star FS Canis Majoris variable FU Orionis star Failed supernova Fakhr al-Din al-Akhlati Fast blue optical transient Fast radio burst Fathullah Shirazi Fe-56 Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Fermilab Holometer Firewall (physics)First observation of gravitational waves Flare star Flat-spectrum radio quasar Foe (unit)Fritz Zwicky Fundamental interaction Fuzzball (string theory)G-type main-sequence star G1.9+0.3 GEO600 GEOGRAV GW151226 GW170104 GW170608 GW170814 GW170817 GW190412 GW190521 GW190814 GW200105 Gaia BH1 Galactic year Galaxy Galaxy morphological classification Gamma-ray burst Gamma-ray burst progenitors Gamma Cassiopeiae variable Gamma Doradus variable Gamma Velorum Gamma process (astrophysics)Gamma ray General relativity Geocentrism Geon (physics)Giant planet Giant star GitHub Glitch (astronomy)Globe Globular cluster Graph paper Gravastar Gravitational-wave astronomy Gravitational-wave observatory Gravitational binding energy Gravitational collapse Gravitational energy Gravitational lens Gravitational microlensing Gravitational singularity Gravitational wave Gravitational wave background Gravitational waves Graviton Gravity Gravity darkening Gravity well Ground-based interferometric gravitational-wave search Guest star (astronomy)HD 74438 Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi Half life Haseb-i Tabari Hawking radiation Hayashi track Hayward metric Heartbeat star Heliocentrism Helioseismology Helium Helium-weak star Helium flash Helium planet Helium star Henrik Svensmark Henyey track Herbig Ae/Be star Herbig–Haro object Hercules A Hertzsprung gap Hertzsprung–Russell diagram High-Z Supernova Search Team Historical brightest stars History of supernova observation Holographic principle Horizontal branch House of Knowledge House of Wisdom Hubble Space Telescope Hubble curve Hubble diagram Huihui Lifa Hulse–Taylor pulsar Hydrogen Hydrogen absorption line Hydrogen emission line Hypercompact stellar system Hypergiant Hypernova Hypothetical star IC 2391 IC 443 IK Pegasi IPTF14hls Ibn Ishaq al-Tunisi Ibn Mu'adh al-Jayyani Ibn Shuayb Ibn Tufail Ibn Yunus Ibn al-A'lam Ibn al-Adami Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi Ibn al-Haytham Ibn al-Kammad Ibn al-Majdi Ibn al-Saffar Ibn al-Samh Ibn al-Shatir Ibn al‐Ha'im al‐Ishbili Ibn al‐Raqqam Ibrahim ibn Said al-Sahli Ibrahim ibn Sinan Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī Immirzi parameter Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations Indian astronomy Inertia Infrared Innermost stable circular orbit Instability strip Interferometric gravitational-wave detector Intergalactic star Intermediate-mass black hole Intermediate polar International Astronomical Union International Gravitational Event Collaboration International Pulsar Timing Array Interstellar medium Introduction to quantum mechanics Inverse beta decay Ionization Iron Iron star Irregular galaxy Islamic calendar Isotopes of cobalt Isotopes of nickel Jabir ibn Aflah Jamal ad-Din Bukhari Jamshid al-Kashi Johannes Kepler Jones & Bartlett Learning Joule K-type main-sequence star KAGRA Kashmir Kate Scholberg Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope Kelvin Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism Ken'ichi Nomoto Kepler's Supernova Kerr metric Kerr–Newman metric Khalid ibn Abd al‐Malik al‐Marwarrudhi Kilometers per second Kilometre Kilometres per second Kilonova Kinetic energy Kluwer Academic Publishers Knut Lundmark Kraft break Kugelblitz (astrophysics)Kushyar Gilani LIGO LIGO-Australia LIGO Scientific Collaboration Lambda Boötis star Lambda Eridani variable Large Magellanic Cloud Large quasar group Laser Interferometer Space Antenna Late-type star Latin language Lattice QCD Lead star Lecture Notes in Physics Light-year Light curve Light echo List of Arabic star names List of Muslim astronomers List of X-ray pulsars List of black holes List of brightest stars List of brown dwarfs List of coolest stars List of gravitational wave observations List of hottest stars List of largest stars List of microquasars List of most distant stars List of most distant supernovae List of most luminous stars List of most massive black holes List of most massive neutron stars List of most massive stars List of multiplanetary systems List of nearest bright stars List of nearest known black holes List of nearest stars List of neutron stars List of novae in the Milky Way galaxy List of planetary nebulae List of proper names of stars List of quasars List of red dwarfs List of smallest known stars List of star extremes List of stars with resolved images List of supernova candidates List of supernova remnants List of supernovae List of variable stars List of white dwarfs Lists of black holes Lists of stars Lithium Lithium burning Living Reviews in Relativity Local Bubble Long-period variable star Luminosity Luminous blue variable Luminous red nova Lupus (constellation)MS 0735.6+7421 Ma Yize Macmillan Press Magnesium Magnetar Magnetospheric eternally collapsing object Magnitude (astronomy)Main sequence Malament–Hogarth spacetime Mansi Kasliwal Maragheh observatory Mariner's astrolabe Mario Schenberg (Gravitational Wave Detector)Markarian 501 Mashallah ibn Athari Maslama al-Majriti Mass inflation Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massive star Membrane paradigm Mercury–manganese star Messier 61 Metallicity Micro black hole Micronova Microquasar Microturbulence Milky Way Millisecond pulsar Mimosa (star)MiniGrail Mira variable Molecular cloud Monte Agliale Supernovae and Asteroid Survey Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Moonlight Moscow University Mu'ayyad al-Din al-Urdi Muhammad al-Rudani Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al‐Farisi Muhyi al-Din al-Maghribi Multiverse Mural instrument Muwaqqit Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī M–sigma relation N6946-BH1 NAUTILUS NGC 1058 NGC 1365 NGC 2146 NGC 2525 NGC 3003 NGC 4303 NGC 4424 NGC 4526 NGC 5253 NGC 6946 NGC 7610 NIOBE Najm al‐Din al‐Misri Naked eye Naked singularity Nanometre Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Nastulus Nature (journal)Nature Astronomy Nature Physics NeVe 1 Near-Earth supernova Nearby Supernova Factory Nebula Neon Neon-burning process Neutrino Neutrino detector Neutrino oscillation Neutron Neutron-star oscillation Neutron matter Neutron star Neutron star formation Neutron star merger Neutron star spin-up Neutron stars in fiction Neutronium New Astronomy (journal)New Journal of Physics Ni-56 Nizam al-Din al-Nisapuri No-hair theorem Nonsingular black hole models North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves Nova Nova remnant Nuclear astrophysics Nuclear fusion Nucleosynthesis Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji Nutrients O-type main-sequence star OB star OH/IR star OJ 287 Octant (instrument)Omar Khayyam Open cluster Ophiuchus Oppenheimer–Snyder model Optical Optical black hole Optical pulsar Optical telescope Orbital decay Orbital eccentricity Order of magnitude Orion variable Orion–Eridanus Superbubble Outline of black holes Oxford English Dictionary Oxygen Oxygen-burning process P-process PG 1159 star PKS 1302-102 PSO J030947.49+271757.31 PSR B1919+21 PV Telescopii variable Pacific Ocean Pair-instability supernova Pair production Palomar Transient Factory Parallax Parkes Observatory Parsec Pauli exclusion principle Peculiar velocity Penrose process Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems Phase transition Phillips relationship Phoenix Cluster Photodisintegration Photographic magnitude Photometric-standard star Photometric system Photon Photon sphere Photosphere Physical Review D Physical Review Letters Physical cosmology Physics Reports Pion Piri Reis Planck star Planet Planet-hosting stars Planetary nebula Planetary system Planetary transit variable Planisphere Plural Polar (star)Pole star Population III star Positron Positron emission Post-AGB star Pre-main-sequence star Precession Preon Preon star Press Association Primordial black hole Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Proper motion Proplyd Proton Proton–proton chain Protoplanetary disk Protoplanetary nebula Protostar Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Pulsar Pulsar kick Pulsar planet Pulsar timing array Pulsar wind nebula Pulsating white dwarf Pulsational pair-instability supernova PyCBC Q0906+6930 QCD matter Q star Qibla Quadrant (instrument)Quantum chromodynamics Quantum electrodynamics Quantum fluctuation Quantum hydrodynamics Quantum mechanics Quark-nova Quark star Quark–gluon plasma Quasar Quasi-periodic oscillation Quasi-star Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī R-process RR Lyrae variable RS Canum Venaticorum variable RTE News RV Tauri variable RX J0852.0-4622 R Coronae Borealis variable Radial velocity Radiation zone Radio-quiet neutron star Radio star Radioactive Radioactive decay Radioactive isotope Raffaella Margutti Rapidly oscillating Ap star Recurrent nova Red-giant branch Red clump Red dwarf Red giant Red hypergiant Red supergiant Red supergiant star Redshift Reissner–Nordström metric Relativistic jet Relativistic star Rho Cassiopeiae Rigel Ring singularity Robert Burnham Jr.Rock strata Rogue black hole Rosario Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Rotating black hole Rotating ellipsoidal variable Rotating radio transient Rp-process Rubidium Rudolph Minkowski S-process S-type star SDSS J0849+1114 SFERA SN 1000+0216 SN 1006 SN 1054 SN 1181 SN 1572 SN 1604 SN 185 SN 1885A SN 1895A SN 1895B SN 1961V SN 1961i SN 1987A SN 1993J SN 1994D SN 1997D SN 2002cx SN 2003fg SN 2005gl SN 2005gy SN 2006gy SN 2007bi SN 2008ha SN 2009ip SN 2010jl SN 2011fe SN 2013fs SN 2014J SN 2016aps SN 2016gkg SN 2018cow SN 2018zd SN 2019hgp SN 2021yfj SN 2022jli SN 386 SN 393 SN H0pe SN Refsdal SW Sextantis variable SX Arietis variable SX Phoenicis variable Sadr al-Shari'a al-Asghar Sagittarius (constellation)Sagittarius A*Sahl ibn Bishr Said al-Andalusi Salah times Satellite galaxy Schema for horizontal dials Schwarzschild metric Schwarzschild radius Science (journal)Scorpius Selma de Mink Semiregular variable star Sextant (astronomy)Shadow square Shams al-Din Abu Abd Allah al-Khalili Shams al-Din al-Khafri Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi Shell collapsar Shell star Shock singularity Shock wave Shock waves Sibt al-Maridini Silicon Silicon-burning process Sky & Telescope Sloan Digital Sky Survey Slow irregular variable Slowly pulsating B-type star Small Magellanic Cloud Snežana Stanimirović Soft gamma repeater Soft hair (black holes)Solar-like oscillations Solar System Solar eclipse Solar luminosity Solar mass Solar radio emission Sonic black hole Soviet Astronomy Letters Spaghettification Specific gravity Speed of light Spherical Earth Spica Spin-flip Spiral galaxy Springer Science+Business Media Standard candle Standard candles Stanford gravitational wave detector Star Star cluster Star formation Star system Starburst galaxy Starlight Starquake (astrophysics)Starspot Stellar-wind bubble Stellar atmosphere Stellar black hole Stellar classification Stellar collision Stellar core Stellar corona Stellar designations and names Stellar dynamics Stellar engulfment Stellar evolution Stellar kinematics Stellar magnetic field Stellar mass Stellar mass loss Stellar merger Stellar nucleosynthesis Stellar parallax Stellar population Stellar pulsation Stellar rotation Stellar structure Stellar wind Sternberg Astronomical Institute Stochastic Strange matter Strange star Strangelet Strong interaction Strömgren sphere Sub-brown dwarf Subatomic particle Subdwarf Subdwarf B star Subdwarf O star Subgiant Sublunary sphere Substellar object Sulfur Sullam al-sama'Sumner Starrfield Sun Sun's core Sundial Sunlight Super-AGB star Super-luminous supernova SuperNova Early Warning System Super star cluster Superbubble Supergiant Supergiant star Superluminal motion Superluminous supernova Supermassive black hole Supermassive star Supernova/Acceleration Probe Supernova (disambiguation)Supernova Cosmology Project Supernova Early Warning System Supernova Legacy Survey Supernova impostor Supernova neutrino Supernova neutrinos Supernova nucleosynthesis Supernova remnant Supernovae in fiction Supersoft X-ray source Swift J1644+57 Symbiotic binary Symbiotic nova TAMA 300 TENKO-100 TON 618 T Tauri star Tabula Rogeriana Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf Taurus (constellation)Taxonomy (general)Technetium star Telescope Temporal finitism Tests of general relativity Texas Supernova Search The Astronomical Journal The Astrophysical Journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series The Book of Healing The Magnificent Seven (neutron stars)The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries Thermal radiation Thermal runaway Thorne–Żytkow object Thābit ibn Qurra TianQin Tidal disruption event Timeline of black hole physics Timeline of stellar astronomy Timeline of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and supernovae Toledan Tables Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit Torsion-bar antenna Trepidation Triangulation Triple-alpha process Triquetrum (astronomy)Truncated Icosahedral Gravitational Wave Antenna Tusi couple Tycho's Supernova Tycho Brahe Type II Cepheid Type II Supernova Type II supernova Type IIb supernova Type I Cepheid Type Ia supernova Type Iax supernova Type Ib and Ic supernovae UBV photometric system ULAS J1342+0928 U Scorpii Ulugh Beg Ulugh Beg Observatory Universe University of Tokyo University of al-Qarawiyyin Urca process VV Cephei Variable star Vela Supernova Remnant Vela constellation Virgo interferometer Virtual black hole W. M. Keck Observatory WC star WO star WR 104 W Ursae Majoris variable W Virginis variable Walter Baade Weak interaction Weber bar Weizmann Institute of Science White dwarf White hole Wolf-Rayet star Wolf–Rayet nebula Wolf–Rayet star Wolf–Rayet stars Wormhole X-ray X-ray binary X-ray burster X-ray pulsar X-ray pulsar-based navigation XTE J1118+480 XTE J1650-500 Yahya ibn Abi Mansur Yale University Press Yang Guangxian Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq Yellow giant Yellow hypergiant Yellow supergiant Yellow supergiant star Young stellar object Zakariya al-Qazwini Zij Zij-i Ilkhani Zij-i Sultani Zombie star Zooniverse

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