How to Detect a Supernova

You know in an observable universe, a supernova occurs every second. In every 25-50 years, there is one on average in the galaxy and in the size of the Milky Way yet never have we human beings been able to witness it happening from the very first of violent moments. The reason behind this is that we have to get ready with our telescopes in the right direction at the right time to witness such moments. So in a way, the chances are very low for this to happen.

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Types Of Supernova

Precisely, there are two types of supernova. We will be talking about these types in a more detailed manner below:-

Type 1

  • Explosion

In this type the explosion occurs when an individual star observe more than enough matter from its neighboring star and the runaway nuclear reaction ignites

Type 2

  • Explosion

In this type, the journey of the explosion is a little dramatic. It occurs when the star runs out of fuel and leads the quantum mechanical forces to overwhelm the gravitational forces along with collapsing the stellar core to under its own weight.

It occurs in a hundredth of a second. But the catch here is that the outer portion of the star remains utterly unaffected from the collapse force and acceleration occurs in inner edges through the very void. This smashes into the core that rebounds and later causes the explosion.

The similarity in both of the explosions

The similarity between these explosions is that the star expels unparalleled energy that is the matter as well.

Neutrinos In Type 2 Supernova

Neutrinos reach the surface of the earth much earlier than photons itself. In the second type of supernova, 1% of photons are light and 99% are neutrinos that are radiated out. About neutrinos, these are particles that hardly interact with anything. The matter that is ought to explode takes time, say hours or even days so that it can be able to reach the surface of the star and breakthrough.

But unlike them, the neutrinos travel straightforwardly, all hail to their non-interacting property. Thus, this signifies that the neutrinos are ahead of photos while the surface of the star is taking its time to show any visible change. This is why physicists and several astronomists have initiated a project famously known as SNEWS.

Snews: An Attempt To Witness Supernova

SNEWS is an abbreviated form of supernova early warning system. As soon as the detectors experience enough neutrinos, a signal is sent to the central computer that is located in New York. At the same time, if more than one detector is sending the signals, SNEWS will alert stating that a supernova is imminent.

After being alert, the experienced and amateur scientists and astronomers will scan the sky and later share the information so that they can identify the new galactic supernovas and point the telescopes in the same direction.

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