Kathryn Gray, age 10, discovered a supernova in an image taken by amateur astronomer David Lane. The supernova is in the galaxy UGC 3378, which is 240 million light years away. Kathryn began searching for supernovae last year after she learned about a 14 year old who had discovered one. Lane had sent images to Kathryn’s father, and she found it when checking over the images. (Source: cnn.com)
The recently discovered supernova.
Supernovae are generally classified into one of two types.
- Type Ia: These supernovae occur in a binary system consisting of a white dwarf and a companion star. The white dwarf accretes matter from its companion star. As the white dwarf gets more massive, its temperature rises, and uncontrolled fusion of carbon and oxygen occurs, detonating a supernova.
- Type II: These occur in stars that are about 8 times as massive as the sun. These stars are capable of fusing elements up to iron, and thus have iron cores. When the iron core reaches the Chandrasekhar Limit (1.4 solar masses), the electron degeneracy pressure can no longer support it, and it collapses. As outer layers collapse inward, a shock wave rebounds and the star explodes in a supernova.
(Source: NASA)
