föstudagur, ágúst 04, 2006

A fitting name, Supernova

A supernova is a stellar explosion that produces an extremely bright object made of plasma that declines to invisibility over weeks or months. "Nova" (pl. novae) is Latin for "new", referring to what appears to be a very bright new star shining in the celestial sphere; the prefix "super" distinguishes this from an ordinary nova, which also involves a star increasing in brightness, though to a lesser extent and through a different mechanism. However, it is misleading to consider a supernova as a new star, because it really represents the death of a star (or at least its radical transformation into something else).

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