A supernova explosion is a violent explosion that occurs after the evolution of a star to the end of its life, and the energy released between the explosions is equivalent to the sum of the energy released by the sun in its lifetime, and it can be said that it is the most violent astronomical phenomenon in the universe.
If there is a supernova explosion near the earth tens of light-years, then this will be devastating, its explosion of high-energy radiation can directly destroy the earth's atmosphere, so that the surface is exposed to high temperatures, the ecological environment will be completely destroyed, which means that life on the earth will also be on the road to extinction.
Many people may ask, then, how did supernova explosions form, and why do stars explode with such power when they go out?
Now, with astronomers constantly studying the stars, they finally know the mechanism behind them!
In general, supernova explosions are triggered in two ways, the first being a white dwarf accretion companion. We know that many stars in the universe are not as lonely as the Sun, they are either binary or three-star systems.
If, in a binary star system, a star has died to form a white dwarf, and it is close enough to another star, then the white dwarf will continue to accrete hydrogen or helium in the companion star to increase its own mass.
As the mass of accretion increases, the core temperature of the white dwarf will rise, and when a certain temperature is reached, the core will trigger a higher level of fusion, that is, the process of carbon fusion into iron, so the star triggers an out-of-control nuclear fusion, and eventually the white dwarf supernova explosion. This explosion is also known as the Type 1a supernova explosion.
The second type of explosion is a supernova explosion caused by a single massive star after it is dying.
As we all know, the mass of stars in the universe is actually different, our sun is just a medium-mass yellow dwarf, and there are actually many stars with a larger mass than the sun, some of which can be dozens of times or even hundreds of times that of the sun.
This massive star burns extremely fast, the internal nuclear reaction is very violent, can fuse to the iron element, in the iron element will stop the fusion, because the iron element fusion temperature and pressure is higher, the star can no longer provide conditions, so the core can not continue to resist its own gravitational balance, gravity will collapse inward, and eventually the entire star will disintegrate, thus triggering a single supernova explosion.
This explosion is extremely bright, capable of releasing the sum of the energy released by the sun during its lifetime, and the material of the explosion can spread outward at one-tenth of the speed of light. Not only that, but at the moment of the outbreak, it can also create elements heavier than iron, such as gold, silver and other elements.
It can be said that there would be no human being without a supernova explosion, because all the material we can see on Earth comes from the supernova explosion, and it is he who gave us life.
However, supernova explosions are not the end of stars, and generally when a massive star dies, its core will continue to collapse, forming a denser celestial body. If the core of this star is less than 3.2 times the mass of the Sun, then a neutron star will be formed, and if it is above 3.2 times the mass of the Sun, a terrible black hole will be formed!