A really big star gets really old. Fusion shuts down in the core. The really big star shrinks fast. fusion starts back up due to shrinkage heating up the core. boom! since supernova are really hot the fusion creates elements heavier than would otherwise be created. the explosion flings most of the mass out into space so fast that it will never return, whats left behind? we think that the core was compressed by the explosion so hard that it is possible to reach black hole density. in which case there is no going back once that threshold is crossed anything in the black holes path will get eaten up!
This is a very simplistic explanation there are more detailed descriptions out on the web, google supernovaWhat event initiates a supernova? Explain what happens during the explosion and why a neutron star or blac?
A star fusing elements into iron which halts its production of energy outward against the force of gravity. Thus gravity collapses the star and it implodes, also because of the pressure build up the star rebound in an explosion. During smaller supernovae elements higher than iron are produced only during the explosion but during the larger supernovae only the highest of elements are produced during the brief explosion. A star becomes a neutron star when it is about 8 times the mass of the sun and it produces a black hole (stars do not become black holes) when it is about 100 times the mass of the sun. The blast of large supernovae and hypernovae are so powerful and superheated that they blast a hole in space itself, fusing its energy threads of fabric into what we call black holes.What event initiates a supernova? Explain what happens during the explosion and why a neutron star or blac?
Depends on the type of supernova, and the size of the star. In your average supernova you have a star. The star starts off fusing hydrogen into helium, then it fuses hydrogen and helium into carbon and oxygen, then it fuses carbon and oxygen into iron. Iron is pretty much fatal for a star. In a stars core, the iron starts to absorb more and more energy until, instead of releasing the energy to keep gravity from crushing it, the energy is absorbed by the iron until it can no longer sustain itself. Gravity wins against the rest of the star and the core collapses into 3 possible things. 1) a brown dwarf star, a dead, cooled star that has no fusion. 2) it creates a neutron star by condensing atoms more and more and more until it physically crushes the atoms together into something dense enough to be called a neutron star. and 3) it creates a black hole. a black hole collapse is unique because the core collapses and, within the space of 30 seconds, it eats the entire star (keep in mind this star is several thousand times larger than our sun). this also creates a very large burst of radioactivity. this burst of radioactivity is also called a gamma-ray burst. now, when the core collapses into one of the first 2 options, the outer portion of the star is pulled in at a slower rate. it is pulled towards the core of the star, but instead of sticking to it, it rebounds (or bounces) off of the condensed core and flies out into space into what we call, a supernova.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova
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