What is a supernova? Unlike when a fire exhausts its fuel, the stars do solve its end in a tremendously spectacular way. Once a star uses up all its fuel and is unable to support its own gravity, everything that happens from here represents the most colossal and spectacular explosion of a star’s stages. The star’s gravity tries to compress it into a compact sphere and the fuel creates a huge outward pressure. But what about when the balance is broken? In this dying phase, the star goes off with a detonation that we can only describe as fantastic.
What if the measure runs out?
Because when the balance between burning huge amounts of nuclear fuel in the core and producing tons of energy whose pressure prevents the star from collapsing disappears, gravity wins and exactly this happens: the strong outward pressure causes the star to suddenly explode, leaving behind a very dense core, along with an expanding cloud of hot gas called a nebula. It is the end of the two opposing forces.
We have the supernova, which is nothing more than part of the life of a star. What remains, no longer emits light thanks to fusion, like most stars. Instead, it does emit thermal radiation that may be visible to scientists.
Today we will see some of the most beautiful supernovae that astronomers have captured thanks to their powerful telescopes around the world. Of course, in our galaxy, the Milky Way, it is a bit more difficult for us to contemplate them, because the cosmic dust blocks our view.
One of the most famous supernovae observed by humans is the Crab Nebula. It made its first appearance in the sky in 1054, when Chinese astronomers observed an explosion in the sky. It was initially named SN 1054 and was visible for more than two years before fading into what we now know as the Crab Nebula. It has a radius of 5.5 light years and is 6,523 light years distant from our planet.
