The Life of a Star
Stellar Nebula Main Cycle Red Giant White Dwarf Supernova Black Hole
Supernovas - When Collapsing Supergiants Explode
Supernovas, like the Eta-Carinae shown to the right, occur when a red supergiant collapses itself into a phenomenal and beautiful explosion which, when viewed from Earth, can be brighter than the sun as happened in 1054, when a star in the constellation Taurus exploded and created the Crab Nebula (shown left), which can still be seen using x-ray technology. Supernovas are considered to be the most powerful explosions in the universe, as they represent the collapse of the most massive stars. Smaller supernovas leave the supergiant's core behind in the form of a neutron star. A neutron star spins rapidly (600 times per second) and is exceptionally dense, packing roughly 1.4 times the mass of our sun (the mass of most neutron stars) into an area not much bigger than Chicago. As a neutron star spins, it emits radio waves which have been detected on Earth. These rapidly spinning stars are often called pulsars.