20060725

We like the stars, the stars that go boom!




http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/html/heic0415b.html
NASA/European Space Agency, and P. Ruiz-Lapuente (University of Barcelona)

Astronomy 10 learning goal Q10.3

Short movie clip dramatizing the type Ia supernova documented by Tycho Brahe in 1572.   A white dwarf of degenerate carbon steals hydrogen from its companion star.   When enough material has accumulated on the surface of the white dwarf, it undergoes runaway fusion, annihilating itself, and freeing its companion to roam the Milky Way alone.

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