Page 116 - BBC Sky at Night Beginners Guide to Astronomy - 2017 UK

A representation of the blast
that formed the Crab Nebula,
which can be seen in image 6

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DEEP SKY SUPERNOVAE

DISCOVER ONE OF THE MOST FEROCIOUS EVENTS
IN THE UNIVERSE: A STAR’S DEATH

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Stars are seemingly steady,
inactive things in the night sky. FAMOUS SUPERNOVAE
They shine away, puncturing
the blackness of the night
Astronomers expect a supernova to occur in our 23 days – was
like silent, benign candles. In
Galaxy once every 50 years. Unfortunately, not the supernova
reality, each and every one is all are visible to us because some are hidden that caused
an amazingly extreme object. by the vast dust clouds in the Milky Way. the Crab
A star lives its life ferociously, In fact, the last supernova that was actually Nebula. This
creating energy to hold itself in observed in our Galaxy was back in October was observed
1604. It was written about and subsequently in 1054 by
balance against the phenomenal
named after the German mathematician and Chinese, Arabic and
force of gravity acting upon it.
astronomer Johannes Kepler. This was the Japanese astronomers.
For most stars this works second supernova to be observed in that Rock art indicates that native
tremendously well – until the generation; only 32 years earlier, in 1572, American tribes may have seen the event too.
fuel runs out. For massive the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, one of Back to the present day and as of April 2009,
stars that are nine to 10 times the last great, pre-telescope observers, made the uninspiringly named G1.9+0.3, inset, holds
detailed notes on another. It was named the record for the youngest known supernova
the size of the Sun, the end
Tycho’s Supernova after him. remnant in our Galaxy. It exploded around
is inevitable: it comes as a
Much brighter than both of those – in fact 25,000 years ago, but its light only started
supernova, a cataclysmic brilliant enough to be clearly seen in daytime for to reach us 140 years ago.
explosion in which most of
116 skyatnightmagazine.com 2012