Supernovae are essential to the universe and are sources of elements heavier than iron. This material is discarded in the space and some of it falls to Earth like rain.
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A supernova is a powerful explosion that occurs in the late stages of a massive star's evolution or when a smaller star is star is subject to physical fusion. Supernovae are the largest explosions that occur in space. In a galaxy like ours, a supernova occurs about every 50 years.
There are two main types of supernova, the Type I and the Type II, classified according to the way they explode. Stars that end their lives as Type II supernovae are supermassive, usually with a mass eight to fifteen times greater than the Sun us.
Stars have a life cycle from birth to death, which goes through several stages and lasts for billions of years. Before they go supernova and die. stars go through other stages.
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The life of a star starts from a nebula, a collection of dust and gaseous materials including hydrogen and helium. The next stage is the first star and here, the gas and dust material present in the nebula is further contracted. Stars usually spend most of their life cycle in the Main sequence. Stars similar in size to the Sun or smaller can evolve into Red giants, which eventually become unstable and continue to expand. Eventually, the outer layers fly away, creating an expanding cloud of dust and gas. The outer layers take the form of gas and dust surrounding the heavy, dense core known as the white dwarf.
Stars that are more than eight times the mass of the Sun will follow a different path. When the hydrogen fuel runs out in the Core will still have enough mass and pressure to fuse helium. A Main sequence star slightly larger than the mass of the Sun will begin to fuse helium with Carbon, as is the case with lower mass stars.
But when the nucleus runs out of helium, it shrinks, heats up and begins to convert its carbon first into neon and then into oxygen, silicon and iron. The core then collapses and quickly returns back to its original size, creating a shock wave that leads to a supernova. The remaining core forms a neutron star.
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Supernovae eventually disappear, but they leave an extraordinary effect on the universe. As a Supernova explosion occurs, key elements such as iron, potassium, neon, etc., are released into space and eventually condense to form new stars - starting the cycle all over again. Some of the elements that are released will also form planets, such as Earth.
