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What is a Supernova Explosion (SNe)?super - 1: very large or powerful (a superatomic bomb) 2: exhibiting the characteristics of its type to an extreme or excessive degree (supersecrecy)Supernovae were named because they were objects that appeared to be 'new' stars, that hadn't been observed before in the well-known heavens. Of course, the name is actually a bit ironic, since supernovae are actually stars at the end of their lifecycle, stars that are going out with a bang, so to speak. A SNe is the instantaneous release of ~1051 ergs (1031 Megatons) of energy, the result of either the catastrophic collapse of a massive star or runnaway nuclear burning on the surface of a white dwarf. Although only a small fraction of the energy is released in the form of visible light, this is enough to make it appear as if a new star has appeared in the sky. The effects of the SNe are profound and far-reaching, and it is possible to see the remains of SNe that occured many hundreds of years ago. Do you want a more basic description of supernova remnants? Classification of SNeThe classification of SNe is an observational one. SNe are broken down into two groups based on the presence or absence of Hydrogen Balmer lines in their spectra at maximum brightness. Those without Balmer lines are classified as Type I SNe and those with Balmer lines are classified as Type II. Supernovae of Type I are further divided into Type Ia, Ib and Ic. Although the classification is a purely observational one, there are underlying similarities between the progenitor stars (Type Ia are understood to be low mass while Type Ib, Ic and II are high mass) that are responsible for the observed classes of SNe. The Life and Death of a StarA star is engaged in a continual struggle against collapse due to the gravitational force of its own mass. In the early stages of its life (the main sequence stage), a star resists gravity with thermal pressure, as the fusion of elements in its core releases energy which heats up the star's gas. The hot gas expands, exerting an outward pressure that balances the inward force of gravity. How this battle of gravity vs. outward pressure eventually concludes depends upon the initial mass of the star. Massive StarAt some point in a massive star's life, the center of the star has been converted to iron and nuclear fusion in the core is no longer an exothermal process. Nuclear fusion ceases and, without this source of thermal pressure, gravity, exerting its inexorable pull on the star, seems to be winning the battle. The star continues its collapse. Then a strange reaction takes place during which electrons and protons are pushed so close together that they merge to become neutrons, releasing energy in the form of neutrinos. There is no available space between the neutrons: they are supported by neutron degenerate pressure. This halts the gravitational collapse and the outer, more tenuous stellar material 'bounces' upon hitting the degenerate core, much like a wave hitting a sea wall bounces back on itself. The conversion of the central core to neutrons releases 1051 ergs of neutron binding potential energy, and after the bounce, the outer layers of the star are violently ejected into the ISM.If the star starts with between 5 and 12 times the mass of our sun, the neutron degeneracy pressure in the core is thought to be able to withstand the gravitational pressure of the star remaining after the supernova explosion. In this case, a neutron star is left in the center of the SNR. If the neutron star is rotating, it may become a pulsar, emitting radiation in a beam which sweeps the earth as the pulsar rotates. If the star is massive enough, even neutron degenerate pressure will not be able to hold up against gravitational collapse, and the remains continue to be squeezed inward by gravity, forrming a singularity, or black hole. Low Mass StarsIn the usual scheme of things, we expect low mass stars to settle down, slowly fizzle out and become white dwarfs. Their masses are too low to bring about the collapse to a neutron star and the resulting spectacle of a supernova explosion. They resist gravity's pull with electron degenerate pressure, where the electrons are squeezed until there is no more space between them. The gravitational pressure of the star is not enough to cause the conversion to neutrons and the star has reached a stable equilibrium. However, if the white dwarf is in a binary system with a red giant, it is possible for the dwarf to accrete matter from its companion. If enough matter falls on it that it exceeds the Chandresekar limit for white dwarfs, the star is no longer stable, gravity will overcome the resistance of electron degeneracy pressure and the star will collapse. The collapse raises the temperature until carbon and oxygen in the core start to fuse, igniting a deflagration wave of runnaway nuclear burning which propagates through the core in seconds. The nuclear fusion reactions create about a solar mass of radioactive 56Ni. The energy released is on the order of 1052 ergs, and the white dwarf is completely disrupted in the process. The star can outshine entire galaxies while the nuclear fusion proceeds. This is believed to be the mechanism for Type Ia SNe.What is a Supernova Remnant (SNR)?Although in a simple model of SNRs the explosion energy is deposited evenly in all directions and the ambient material is swept up in a uniform, spherical shell, in reality, remnants are much more complicated. Small differences in the initial conditions of the progenitors, including previous mass ejections, can have important effects on ejecta propagation. External conditions, such as density enhancements, in the ISM in which the SN explodes can shape and mold the morphology of the remnant. And Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities can cause the surface of the forward shock to become rippled, mixing the ambient and stellar gases. It is not surprising that there are various types of SNR: simple Shell type remnants with nothing in their centers, Crab-like remnants or plerions with pulsars in their centers and Composite remnants , a combination of the first two. How does the SNR Evolve?As the ejecta expand out from the star, it passes through the surrounding interstellar medium, heating it from 107 to 108 K, sufficient to separate electrons from their atoms and to generate thermal X-rays. The interstellar material is accelerated by the shock wave and will be propelled away from the supernova site at somewhat less than the shock wave's initial velocity. This makes for a thin expanding shell around the supernova site encasing a relatively low density interior.
As the shock wave cools, it will become more efficient at radiating energy. Once the temperature drops below 20000 K or so, some electrons will be able to recombine with carbon and oxygen ions, enabling ultraviolet line emission which is a much more efficient radiation mechanism than the thermal X-rays and synchrotron radiation. Hence this new phase is known as the radiative phase during which X-ray radiation becomes much less apparent and the remnant cools and disperses into the surrounding medium over the course of the next 10000 years. Supernova remnants are extremely important for our understanding of our Galaxy. They are the source of much of the energy that heats up the interstellar medium. They are believed to be responsible for the acceleration of galactic cosmic rays. Heavy elements (up to iron) created by fusion in the stellar core are dumped into the galaxy by the mixing of the ejecta and ISM material in the remnant. Enriched, heated gas from SNR material is reprocessed to form new stars. Elements heavier than iron are created in the powerful blast of a SN explosion and are then dredged up by the shock wave and mixed into the ISM. Most of the elements (except for Hydrogen) in your body, for example, are stellar material that has been redistributed in a SNR. Understanding how SNR evolve can thus help us to understand many important phenomena. Modeling SNROne technique for understanding SNR is to develop a "model" SNR, which is simplified but contains important characteristics common to all SNR, such as the initial energy of the explosion. Such models, which can be either analytical (as an equation, for example, of the size of the remnant as a function of time) or numerical (simulations) can predict X-rays or other emission we would expect to see. These predictions can then be compared with observed SNR to see how well the model fits.Analytical models are few, since the equations governing the motion of the SNR gas are very complex and cannot be solved for except in very limited special cases (spherical geometry and constant energy, for example). In a numerical model, the evolution of the ejecta and ISM gas, fit onto a computational grid, is followed over time, by using the conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy . Numerical models are constrained by limits on the time and space it takes to run the simulation and then store the data. It is not difficult, for example, to perform simulations that have spherical or cylindrical symmetry (1-dimensional and 2-dimensional, respectively), but many of the more complicated structures found in real SNR are destroyed by the imposition of this kind of symmetry. Fully 3-dimensional simulations, on the other hand, are computationally very expensive, particularly if they are of sufficient resolution (small enough numerical grid size) so that small features such as small scale turbulence, do not get averaged out. Despite the difficulties, many good SNR models have been developed, which increase our understanding of how they evolve and how they interact with the surrounding ISM, including the following:
How Does X-ray Astronomy Fit in?Further SNR Resources and References
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