supernova: Distribution of Supernovas

Distribution of Supernovas

At peak intensity, a supernova can shine as brightly as the entire galaxy in which it occurs. Novas are less spectacular and more common; they increase in brightness only by a few thousand times, and several occur in our galaxy every year. Supernovas can occur in that small percentage of stars having a mass greater than 8 to 10 times the mass of the sun and perhaps in certain binary stars.

At least seven supernovas have been observed to have occurred in our galaxy in the last two millennia, including one in Taurus described by Arab, Chinese, and Japanese astronomers in 1054; Tycho's star in Cassiopeia, observed by Tycho Brahe and others in 1572; and the supernova of 1604 that Kepler and others observed. In 1885 the first extragalactic supernova was discovered telescopically in the Andromeda Galaxy; some 700 others have been observed since. In 1987 Supernova 1987A appeared in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It was the first supernova visible to the unaided eye since 1604, and its eruption marked the first time that neutrinos were detected on earth from such an event (see neutrino astronomy).

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