Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Supernovae are only rare to the passive stargazer, but if you’re an astronomer studying them, you get to see some of the most brilliant explosions in the universe. Here are five of the most significant supernovae known to science.

Hosted by: Savannah Geary (they/them)
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Sources:
General:
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/375341
https://www.astro.ru.nl/~onnop/education/stev_utrecht_notes/chapter12-13.pdf [PDF]
ucolick.org/~woosley/ay112-14/lectures/lecture16.4x.pdf [PDF]
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/51-our-solar-system/the-sun/birth-death-and-evolution-of-the-sun/167-how-do-you-calculate-the-lifetime-of-the-sun-advanced

1987A:
aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2013/04/aa21072-13/aa21072-13.html
academic.oup.com/mnras/article/514/3/3941/6607506
academic.oup.com/mnras/article/412/3/1639/1051427
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/703/2/2205
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab93c2

1054:
aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2001/04/aah2323/aah2323.html
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1988ApJ...334..909M/abstract
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab4b4b
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aa92c5
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/810/1/34

2007bi:
nature.com/articles/nature08579
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1989ApJ...342..364M/abstract
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/734/2/102
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab2f92

1006:
academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/51/5/5.27/206961
nature.com/articles/nature11447
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/319535
academic.oup.com/mnras/article/447/3/2803/987269

2016aps:
nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1066-7
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/abd6ce
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/836/2/244

Sources:
gettyimages.com/detail/video/the-birth-of-the-solar-system-in-space-a-big-bang-stock-footage/944562394?phrase=supernova&adppopup=true
gettyimages.com/detail/video/spaceship-flies-near-red-nebula-in-space-billions-of-stock-footage/1336280503?phrase=supernova&adppopup=true
youtube.com/watch?v=k7nQsz7S7Eg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Treasures3.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evolved_star_fusion_shells.svg
Five Of The Biggest, Baddest Supernova Varieties

nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/stsci-h-p1708a-m-1823x2000.png
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hubble_Chronicles_Brightening_of_Ring_around_Supernova_1987A_(1994-2016).webm
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_material_around_SN_1987A.jpg
nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/crab-nebula-mosaic.jpg
gettyimages.com/detail/video/the-sun-solar-atmosphere-isolated-on-black-background-3d-stock-footage/1378376654
gettyimages.com/detail/video/supernova-crab-nebula-formation-stock-footage/531885282
gettyimages.com/detail/video/meteor-shower-shooting-across-the-milky-way-stock-footage/1331444841
youtube.com/watch?v=vPxLVgTIAbk
tinyurl.com/bdzr7zwn
tinyurl.com/ef49acfs
tinyurl.com/2yeuhzxr
tinyurl.com/yea8vh7e
tinyurl.com/2y52hvwn
tinyurl.com/3jdr3df3
tinyurl.com/2mhwsc4p
tinyurl.com/mr258xs9
tinyurl.com/3t4h3cty
tinyurl.com/4j4s23mc
youtube.com/watch?v=QSmuqBiAQ4c&t=75s
universetoday.com/145215/two-white-dwarfs-merged-together-into-a-single-ultramassive-white-dwarf
tinyurl.com/5adu76ss
tinyurl.com/3cryyppj
tinyurl.com/27vt7pxn
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heinrich_III._sieht_den_neuen_Stern_%C3%BCber_der_Stadt_Tivoli_(Tyburtina).jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SN_1006_Supernova_Remnant.jpg
tinyurl.com/2wy7cyn4