Myth vs Reality: Supernovas and Star Death

 

 

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.

 

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA, ESA, and STScI except:

 

·       Night sky imagery created with Stellarium

·       Images of supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy (SN 2011fe) courtesy of Peter Nugent and the Palomar Transient Factory, Thunderf00t (Wikipedia), and BJ Fulton/LCOGT

·       Type Ia supernova animation courtesy of ESO/M. Kornmesser

·       Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory

·       Black-and-white Crab Nebula image: Bill Schoening/NOAO/AURA/NSF

·       Drawing of the Crab Nebula by William Parsons, the Third Earl of Rosse

 

 

Written by Vanessa Thomas

Designed by John Godfrey

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Bright teal lines separate the screen in half. Text. Myth versus Reality. Above the Myth side is a constellation map with a horned bull. On the Reality side is a bright, bursting light.

 

Myth. All stars end their lives in supernova explosions.

 

Reality. Relatively few stars end their lives as supernovae. Stars that are many times more massive than the Sun explode as supernovae. But stars like the Sun, which are much more common, can end their lives quietly by gently puffing away their outer layers.