Supernova 1987a Feature Summary
- Type:
- From Physics Research
- Title:
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Supernova 1987a
- Description:
- Here is a before-and-after view of a part of the sky where a supernova appeared in 1987. A supernova is a catastrophic explosion in a large star. Two hours before this supernova was seen through telescopes, it was announced by a spike in the count of neutrinos in several detectors on Earth. The arrow points to the star before it exploded.
Neutrinos are tiny, uncharged, nearly-massless particles that travel at almost the speed of light. A supernova produces a vast number of neutrinos; in fact, most of the energy of a supernova is given off in neutrinos. To learn more about neutrinos, see Physics at Home and Worth a Look just below.
To learn about Supernova 1987a, visit Hyperphysics and Physics Central, and for much more detail see AAVSO.
- Image:
 - image © Australian Astronomical Observatory, photograph by David Malin; image source; larger image
- Image URL:
- https://www.compadre.org/Informal/images/features/supernova 1987a-large.jpg
- Featured:
- June 1, 2013 - June 16, 2013
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