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85-645: The Pistol Star is an extremely luminous blue hypergiant star , one of the most luminous and massive known stars in the Milky Way . It is one of many massive young stars in the Quintuplet cluster in the Galactic Center region. The star owes its name to the shape of the Pistol Nebula , which it illuminates. It is located approximately 25,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of Sagittarius . The star has

170-462: A Wolf–Rayet star . Stars with an initial mass above about 40  M ☉ are simply too luminous to develop a stable extended atmosphere and so they never cool sufficiently to become red supergiants. The most massive stars, especially rapidly rotating stars with enhanced convection and mixing, may skip these steps and move directly to the Wolf–Rayet stage. This means that stars at the top of

255-499: A B0 hypergiant). In 1971, Keenan suggested that the term would be used only for supergiants showing at least one broad emission component in Hα , indicating an extended stellar atmosphere or a relatively large mass loss rate. The Keenan criterion is the one most commonly used by scientists today; hence it is possible for a supergiant star to have a higher luminosity than a hypergiant of the same spectral class. Hypergiants are expected to have

340-477: A candidate luminous blue variable about 1.6 million  L ☉ (one third as luminous as the binary star system Eta Carinae ), hence a radius of 306  R ☉ based on an effective temperature around 12,000  K , or as high as 3.3 million  L ☉ , hence a correspondingly larger radius of anywhere from 420  R ☉ to 435  R ☉ . Even so, it radiates about as much energy in 10 seconds as

425-416: A characteristic broadening and red-shifting of their spectral lines, producing a distinctive spectral shape known as a P Cygni profile . The use of hydrogen emission lines is not helpful for defining the coolest hypergiants, and these are largely classified by luminosity since mass loss is almost inevitable for the class. Stars with an initial mass above about 25  M ☉ quickly move away from

510-487: A few thousand years. As the luminosity of stars increases greatly with mass, the luminosity of hypergiants often lies very close to the Eddington limit , which is the luminosity at which the radiation pressure expanding the star outward equals the force of the star's gravity collapsing the star inward. This means that the radiative flux passing through the photosphere of a hypergiant may be nearly strong enough to lift off

595-443: A higher proportion of heavy elements have less stable atmospheres due to increased radiation pressure and decreased gravitational attraction. These are thought to be the hypergiants, near the Eddington limit and rapidly losing mass. The yellow hypergiants are thought to be generally post-red supergiant stars that have already lost most of their atmospheres and hydrogen. A few more stable high mass yellow supergiants with approximately

680-412: A journal article came the following year in a publication by Knut Lundmark , who may have coined it independently. Compared to a star's entire history, the visual appearance of a supernova is very brief, sometimes spanning several months, so that the chances of observing one with the naked eye are roughly once in a lifetime. Only a tiny fraction of the 100  billion stars in a typical galaxy have

765-651: A large mass comparable to V4998 Sagittarii and a luminosity 3.3 million times that of the Sun ( L ☉ ). It would be visible to the naked eye as a 4th-magnitude star if it were not for the interstellar dust near the Center of the Milky Way that absorbs almost all of its visible light. The Pistol Star was discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope in the early 1990s by Don Figer , an astronomer at UCLA . The star

850-412: A luminosity four million times that of the Sun , astrophysicists speculate that Eta Carinae may occasionally exceed the Eddington limit . The last time might have been a series of outbursts observed in 1840–1860, reaching mass loss rates much higher than our current understanding of what stellar winds would allow. As opposed to line-driven stellar winds (that is, ones driven by absorbing light from

935-424: A narrow zone where stars of all luminosities have approximately the same temperature, around 8,000 K (13,940 °F; 7,730 °C). This "active" zone is near the hot edge of the unstable "void" where yellow hypergiants are found, with some overlap. It is not clear whether yellow hypergiants ever manage to get past the instability void to become LBVs or explode as a supernova. Blue hypergiants are found in

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1020-453: A non-rotating star), it would no longer be able to support the bulk of its mass through electron degeneracy pressure and would begin to collapse. However, the current view is that this limit is not normally attained; increasing temperature and density inside the core ignite carbon fusion as the star approaches the limit (to within about 1%) before collapse is initiated. In contrast, for a core primarily composed of oxygen, neon and magnesium,

1105-557: A one or two-letter designation. The first 26 supernovae of the year are designated with a capital letter from A to Z . Next, pairs of lower-case letters are used: aa , ab , and so on. Hence, for example, SN 2003C designates the third supernova reported in the year 2003. The last supernova of 2005, SN 2005nc, was the 367th (14 × 26 + 3 = 367). Since 2000, professional and amateur astronomers have been finding several hundred supernovae each year (572 in 2007, 261 in 2008, 390 in 2009; 231 in 2013). Historical supernovae are known simply by

1190-675: A rare type of very fast supernova with unusually strong calcium lines in their spectra. Models suggest they occur when material is accreted from a helium -rich companion rather than a hydrogen -rich star. Because of helium lines in their spectra, they can resemble type Ib supernovae, but are thought to have very different progenitors. The supernovae of type II can also be sub-divided based on their spectra. While most type II supernovae show very broad emission lines which indicate expansion velocities of many thousands of kilometres per second , some, such as SN 2005gl , have relatively narrow features in their spectra. These are called type IIn, where

1275-566: A small group of hydrogen-rich WNL stars are actually progenitors of blue hypergiants or LBVs. These are the closely related Ofpe (O-type spectra plus H, He, and N emission lines, and other peculiarities) and WN9 (the coolest nitrogen Wolf–Rayet stars) which may be a brief intermediate stage between high mass main-sequence stars and hypergiants or LBVs. Quiescent LBVs have been observed with WNL spectra and apparent Ofpe/WNL stars have changed to show blue hypergiant spectra. High rotation rates cause massive stars to shed their atmospheres quickly and prevent

1360-703: A stellar companion to raise its core temperature enough to ignite carbon fusion , at which point it undergoes runaway nuclear fusion, completely disrupting it. There are three avenues by which this detonation is theorised to happen: stable accretion of material from a companion, the collision of two white dwarfs, or accretion that causes ignition in a shell that then ignites the core. The dominant mechanism by which type Ia supernovae are produced remains unclear. Despite this uncertainty in how type Ia supernovae are produced, type Ia supernovae have very uniform properties and are useful standard candles over intergalactic distances. Some calibrations are required to compensate for

1445-470: A supernova's spectrum contains lines of hydrogen (known as the Balmer series in the visual portion of the spectrum) it is classified Type II ; otherwise it is Type I . In each of these two types there are subdivisions according to the presence of lines from other elements or the shape of the light curve (a graph of the supernova's apparent magnitude as a function of time). Type I supernovae are subdivided on

1530-408: A transitional stage to or from cool hypergiants or are different type of object. Wolf–Rayet stars are extremely hot stars that have lost much or all of their outer layers. WNL is a term used for late stage (i.e. cooler) Wolf–Rayet stars with spectra dominated by nitrogen. Although these are generally thought to be the stage reached by hypergiant stars after sufficient mass loss, it is possible that

1615-449: Is a dimensionless measure of the spectrum's frequency shift. High redshift searches for supernovae usually involve the observation of supernova light curves. These are useful for standard or calibrated candles to generate Hubble diagrams and make cosmological predictions. Supernova spectroscopy, used to study the physics and environments of supernovae, is more practical at low than at high redshift. Low redshift observations also anchor

1700-425: Is actually formed by the stellar wind rather than being the true surface of the star. Such a pseudo-photosphere would be significantly cooler than the deeper surface below the outward-moving dense wind. This has been hypothesized to account for the "missing" intermediate-luminosity LBVs and the presence of yellow hypergiants at approximately the same luminosity and cooler temperatures. The yellow hypergiants are actually

1785-485: Is debated and several alternative explanations, such as tidal disruption of a star by a black hole, have been suggested. SN 2013fs was recorded three hours after the supernova event on 6 October 2013, by the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory . This is among the earliest supernovae caught after detonation, and it is the earliest for which spectra have been obtained, beginning six hours after

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1870-451: Is generated, with matter reaching velocities on the order of 5,000–20,000 km/s , or roughly 3% of the speed of light. There is also a significant increase in luminosity, reaching an absolute magnitude of −19.3 (or 5 billion times brighter than the Sun), with little variation. The model for the formation of this category of supernova is a close binary star system. The larger of the two stars

1955-444: Is just an artifact of our observations. Astrophysical models explaining the phenomena show many areas of agreement. Yet there are some distinctions that are not necessarily helpful in establishing relationships between different types of stars. Although most supergiant stars are less luminous than hypergiants of similar temperature, a few fall within the same luminosity range. Ordinary supergiants compared to hypergiants often lack

2040-542: Is much variation in this type of event, and, in many cases, there may be no supernova at all, in which case they will have a less luminous light curve than the more normal SN type Ia. Abnormally bright type Ia supernovae occur when the white dwarf already has a mass higher than the Chandrasekhar limit, possibly enhanced further by asymmetry, but the ejected material will have less than normal kinetic energy. This super-Chandrasekhar-mass scenario can occur, for example, when

2125-579: Is required. It is therefore important to discover them well before they reach their maximum. Amateur astronomers , who greatly outnumber professional astronomers, have played an important role in finding supernovae, typically by looking at some of the closer galaxies through an optical telescope and comparing them to earlier photographs. Toward the end of the 20th century, astronomers increasingly turned to computer-controlled telescopes and CCDs for hunting supernovae. While such systems are popular with amateurs, there are also professional installations such as

2210-414: Is the first to evolve off the main sequence , and it expands to form a red giant . The two stars now share a common envelope, causing their mutual orbit to shrink. The giant star then sheds most of its envelope, losing mass until it can no longer continue nuclear fusion . At this point, it becomes a white dwarf star, composed primarily of carbon and oxygen. Eventually, the secondary star also evolves off

2295-457: Is thought to have ejected almost 10 solar masses of material in giant outbursts perhaps 4,000 to 6,000 years ago (as observed from Earth). Its stellar wind is over 10 billion times stronger than the Sun's. Its exact age and future are not known, but it is expected to end in a brilliant supernova or hypernova in 1 to 3 million years. The mass is equally uncertain, thought to have been up to 200 times

2380-519: The Andromeda Galaxy . A second supernova, SN 1895B , was discovered in NGC 5253 a decade later. Early work on what was originally believed to be simply a new category of novae was performed during the 1920s. These were variously called "upper-class Novae", "Hauptnovae", or "giant novae". The name "supernovae" is thought to have been coined by Walter Baade and Zwicky in lectures at Caltech in 1931. It

2465-462: The Chandrasekhar limit ; electron capture ; pair-instability ; or photodisintegration . The table below lists the known reasons for core collapse in massive stars, the types of stars in which they occur, their associated supernova type, and the remnant produced. The metallicity is the proportion of elements other than hydrogen or helium, as compared to the Sun. The initial mass is the mass of

2550-415: The Eddington limit , would have insufficient heat convection in the inner layers, resulting in a density inversion potentially leading to a massive explosion. The theory has, however, not been explored very much, and it is uncertain whether this really can happen. Another theory associated with hypergiant stars is the potential to form a pseudo-photosphere, that is a spherical optically dense surface that

2635-555: The Eta Carinae Great Outburst was noted. Supernovae in M101 (1909) and M83 (1923 and 1957) were also suggested as possible type IV or type V supernovae. These types would now all be treated as peculiar type II supernovae (IIpec), of which many more examples have been discovered, although it is still debated whether SN 1961V was a true supernova following an LBV outburst or an impostor. Supernova type codes, as summarised in

Pistol Star - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-517: The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram where hypergiants are found may be newly evolved from the main sequence and still with high mass, or much more evolved post-red supergiant stars that have lost a significant fraction of their initial mass, and these objects cannot be distinguished simply on the basis of their luminosity and temperature. High-mass stars with a high proportion of remaining hydrogen are more stable, while older stars with lower masses and

2805-593: The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope . The Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS) project uses a network of neutrino detectors to give early warning of a supernova in the Milky Way galaxy. Neutrinos are subatomic particles that are produced in great quantities by a supernova, and they are not significantly absorbed by the interstellar gas and dust of the galactic disk. Supernova searches fall into two classes: those focused on relatively nearby events and those looking farther away. Because of

2890-516: The Large Magellanic Cloud , a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Theoretical studies indicate that most supernovae are triggered by one of two basic mechanisms: the sudden re-ignition of nuclear fusion in a white dwarf , or the sudden gravitational collapse of a massive star's core . Supernovae can expel several solar masses of material at speeds up to several percent of the speed of light . This drives an expanding shock wave into

2975-595: The Sextans galaxy: In the LS1 galaxy/globular cluster: Plus at least two probable cool hypergiants in the recently discovered Scutum Red Supergiant Clusters: F15 and possibly F13 in RSGC1 and Star 49 in RSGC2 . K to M type spectra, the largest known stars by radius. Hypergiant luminosity classes are rarely applied to red supergiants, although the term red hypergiant is sometimes applied to

3060-413: The expansion of the universe , the distance to a remote object with a known emission spectrum can be estimated by measuring its Doppler shift (or redshift ); on average, more-distant objects recede with greater velocity than those nearby, and so have a higher redshift. Thus the search is split between high redshift and low redshift, with the boundary falling around a redshift range of z=0.1–0.3, where z

3145-416: The naked eye . The remnants of more recent supernovae have been found, and observations of supernovae in other galaxies suggest they occur in the Milky Way on average about three times every century. A supernova in the Milky Way would almost certainly be observable through modern astronomical telescopes. The most recent naked-eye supernova was SN 1987A , which was the explosion of a blue supergiant star in

3230-529: The plural form supernovae ( /- v iː / ) or supernovas and is often abbreviated as SN or SNe. It is derived from the Latin word nova , meaning ' new ' , which refers to what appears to be a temporary new bright star. Adding the prefix "super-" distinguishes supernovae from ordinary novae, which are far less luminous. The word supernova was coined by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky , who began using it in astrophysics lectures in 1931. Its first use in

3315-439: The progenitor , either collapses to a neutron star or black hole , or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula . The peak optical luminosity of a supernova can be comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks or months. The last supernova directly observed in the Milky Way was Kepler's Supernova in 1604, appearing not long after Tycho's Supernova in 1572, both of which were visible to

3400-431: The "n" stands for "narrow". A few supernovae, such as SN 1987K and SN 1993J , appear to change types: they show lines of hydrogen at early times, but, over a period of weeks to months, become dominated by lines of helium. The term "type IIb" is used to describe the combination of features normally associated with types II and Ib. Type II supernovae with normal spectra dominated by broad hydrogen lines that remain for

3485-489: The LBVs having formed a pseudo-photosphere and so apparently having a lower temperature. Hypergiants are evolved, high luminosity, high-mass stars that occur in the same or similar regions of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram as some stars with different classifications. It is not always clear whether the different classifications represent stars with different initial conditions, stars at different stages of an evolutionary track, or

Pistol Star - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-497: The Sun does in a year. A close point source has been discovered hidden in the surrounding nebulosity , but there has been no confirmation of this being a star or whether it is physically associated. Hypergiant In 1956, the astronomers Feast and Thackeray used the term super-supergiant (later changed into hypergiant) for stars with an absolute magnitude brighter than M V = −7 ( M Bol will be larger for very cool and very hot stars, for example at least −9.7 for

3655-571: The Sun when initially formed but now considerably less due to extreme mass loss although likely still over 100 times the Sun. Modelling the star itself to match its spectrum gives a mass of 27.5  M ☉ , while matching its current properties to an evolutionary model gives a much higher mass (86–92  M ☉ ). Earlier studies once claimed the Pistol Star as the most massive star known at around 250  M ☉ . Later studies have reduced its estimated luminosity making it

3740-541: The actual explosion. The star is located in a spiral galaxy named NGC 7610 , 160 million light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus. The supernova SN 2016gkg was detected by amateur astronomer Victor Buso from Rosario , Argentina, on 20 September 2016. It was the first time that the initial "shock breakout" from an optical supernova had been observed. The progenitor star has been identified in Hubble Space Telescope images from before its collapse. Astronomer Alex Filippenko noted: "Observations of stars in

3825-688: The basis of their spectra, with type Ia showing a strong ionised silicon absorption line. Type I supernovae without this strong line are classified as type Ib and Ic, with type Ib showing strong neutral helium lines and type Ic lacking them. Historically, the light curves of type I supernovae were seen as all broadly similar, too much so to make useful distinctions. While variations in light curves have been studied, classification continues to be made on spectral grounds rather than light-curve shape. A small number of type Ia supernovae exhibit unusual features, such as non-standard luminosity or broadened light curves, and these are typically categorised by referring to

3910-534: The capacity to become a supernova, the ability being restricted to those having high mass and those in rare kinds of binary star systems with at least one white dwarf . The earliest record of a possible supernova, known as HB9, was likely viewed by an unknown prehistoric people of the Indian subcontinent and recorded on a rock carving in the Burzahama region of Kashmir , dated to 4500 ± 1000  BC . Later, SN 185

3995-402: The collapsing white dwarf will typically form a neutron star . In this case, only a fraction of the star's mass will be ejected during the collapse. Within a few seconds of the collapse process, a substantial fraction of the matter in the white dwarf undergoes nuclear fusion, releasing enough energy (1– 2 × 10   J ) to unbind the star in a supernova. An outwardly expanding shock wave

4080-463: The continuum driving may also contribute to an upper mass limit even for the first generation of stars right after the Big Bang , which did not contain any metals at all. Another theory to explain the massive outbursts of, for example, Eta Carinae is the idea of a deeply situated hydrodynamic explosion, blasting off parts of the star's outer layers. The idea is that the star, even at luminosities below

4165-454: The core against its own gravity; passing this threshold is the cause of all types of supernova except type Ia. The collapse may cause violent expulsion of the outer layers of the star resulting in a supernova. However, if the release of gravitational potential energy is insufficient, the star may instead collapse into a black hole or neutron star with little radiated energy. Core collapse can be caused by several different mechanisms: exceeding

4250-400: The distance to their host galaxies. A second model for the formation of type Ia supernovae involves the merger of two white dwarf stars, with the combined mass momentarily exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit. This is sometimes referred to as the double-degenerate model, as both stars are degenerate white dwarfs. Due to the possible combinations of mass and chemical composition of the pair there

4335-401: The earliest example showing similar features. For example, the sub-luminous SN 2008ha is often referred to as SN 2002cx -like or class Ia-2002cx. A small proportion of type Ic supernovae show highly broadened and blended emission lines which are taken to indicate very high expansion velocities for the ejecta. These have been classified as type Ic-BL or Ic-bl. Calcium-rich supernovae are

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4420-411: The event sufficiently for it to go unnoticed. The situation for Cassiopeia A is less clear; infrared light echoes have been detected showing that it was not in a region of especially high extinction. SN's identification With the development of the astronomical telescope , observation and discovery of fainter and more distant supernovae became possible. The first such observation was of SN 1885A in

4505-558: The extra mass is supported by differential rotation . There is no formal sub-classification for non-standard type Ia supernovae. It has been proposed that a group of sub-luminous supernovae that occur when helium accretes onto a white dwarf should be classified as type Iax . This type of supernova may not always completely destroy the white dwarf progenitor and could leave behind a zombie star . One specific type of supernova originates from exploding white dwarfs, like type Ia, but contains hydrogen lines in their spectra, possibly because

4590-451: The first moments they begin exploding provide information that cannot be directly obtained in any other way." The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has significantly advanced our understanding of supernovae by identifying around 80 new instances through its JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program. This includes the most distant spectroscopically confirmed supernova at a redshift of 3.6, indicating its explosion occurred when

4675-439: The gradual change in properties or different frequencies of abnormal luminosity supernovae at high redshift, and for small variations in brightness identified by light curve shape or spectrum. There are several means by which a supernova of this type can form, but they share a common underlying mechanism. If a carbon - oxygen white dwarf accreted enough matter to reach the Chandrasekhar limit of about 1.44 solar masses (for

4760-551: The increasing number of discoveries has regularly led to the additional use of three-letter designations. After zz comes aaa, then aab, aac, and so on. For example, the last supernova retained in the Asiago Supernova Catalogue ; when it was terminated on 31 December 2017 bears the designation SN 2017jzp. Astronomers classify supernovae according to their light curves and the absorption lines of different chemical elements that appear in their spectra . If

4845-431: The life of the decline are classified on the basis of their light curves. The most common type shows a distinctive "plateau" in the light curve shortly after peak brightness where the visual luminosity stays relatively constant for several months before the decline resumes. These are called type II-P referring to the plateau. Less common are type II-L supernovae that lack a distinct plateau. The "L" signifies "linear" although

4930-466: The lifetime of a hypergiant is very short in astronomical timescales: only a few million years compared to around 10 billion years for stars like the Sun . Hypergiants are only created in the largest and densest areas of star formation and because of their short lives, only a small number are known despite their extreme luminosity that allows them to be identified even in neighbouring galaxies. The time spent in some phases such as LBVs can be as short as

5015-437: The light curve is extremely consistent across normal type Ia supernovae, having a maximum absolute magnitude of about −19.3. This is because typical type Ia supernovae arise from a consistent type of progenitor star by gradual mass acquisition, and explode when they acquire a consistent typical mass, giving rise to very similar supernova conditions and behaviour. This allows them to be used as a secondary standard candle to measure

5100-487: The light curve is not actually a straight line. Supernovae that do not fit into the normal classifications are designated peculiar, or "pec". Zwicky defined additional supernovae types based on a very few examples that did not cleanly fit the parameters for type I or type II supernovae. SN 1961i in NGC 4303 was the prototype and only member of the type III supernova class, noted for its broad light curve maximum and broad hydrogen Balmer lines that were slow to develop in

5185-459: The low-distance end of the Hubble curve , which is a plot of distance versus redshift for visible galaxies. As survey programmes rapidly increase the number of detected supernovae, collated collections of observations (light decay curves, astrometry, pre-supernova observations, spectroscopy) have been assembled. The Pantheon data set, assembled in 2018, detailed 1048 supernovae. In 2021, this data set

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5270-444: The main sequence and increase somewhat in luminosity to become blue supergiants. They cool and enlarge at approximately constant luminosity to become a red supergiant, then contract and increase in temperature as the outer layers are blown away. They may "bounce" backwards and forwards executing one or more "blue loops", still at a fairly steady luminosity, until they explode as a supernova or completely shed their outer layers to become

5355-492: The main sequence to form a red giant. Matter from the giant is accreted by the white dwarf, causing the latter to increase in mass. The exact details of initiation and of the heavy elements produced in the catastrophic event remain unclear. Type Ia supernovae produce a characteristic light curve—the graph of luminosity as a function of time—after the event. This luminosity is generated by the radioactive decay of nickel -56 through cobalt -56 to iron -56. The peak luminosity of

5440-463: The most distant supernovae observed in 2003 appeared dimmer than expected. This supports the view that the expansion of the universe is accelerating . Techniques were developed for reconstructing supernovae events that have no written records of being observed. The date of the Cassiopeia A supernova event was determined from light echoes off nebulae , while the age of supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622

5525-419: The most extended and unstable red supergiants, with radii on the order of 1,000 to 2,000  R ☉ . Supernova A supernova ( pl. : supernovae or supernovas ) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star . A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star , or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion . The original object, called

5610-550: The naked eye, had a notable influence on the development of astronomy in Europe because they were used to argue against the Aristotelian idea that the universe beyond the Moon and planets was static and unchanging. Johannes Kepler began observing SN 1604 at its peak on 17 October 1604, and continued to make estimates of its brightness until it faded from naked eye view a year later. It was

5695-857: The passage from main sequence to supergiant, so these directly become Wolf–Rayet stars. Wolf Rayet stars, slash stars, cool slash stars (aka WN10/11), Ofpe, Of , and Of stars are not considered hypergiants. Although they are luminous and often have strong emission lines, they have characteristic spectra of their own. Hypergiants are difficult to study due to their rarity. Many hypergiants have highly variable spectra, but they are grouped here into broad spectral classes. Some luminous blue variables are classified as hypergiants, during at least part of their cycle of variation: Usually B-class, occasionally late O or early A: In Galactic Center Region: In Westerlund 1 : Yellow hypergiants typically have late A to early K spectra. However, A-type hypergiants can also be called white hypergiants. In Westerlund 1 : In

5780-481: The photosphere. Above the Eddington limit, the star would generate so much radiation that parts of its outer layers would be thrown off in massive outbursts; this would effectively restrict the star from shining at higher luminosities for longer periods. A good candidate for hosting a continuum-driven wind is Eta Carinae , one of the most massive stars ever observed. With an estimated mass of around 130 solar masses and

5865-695: The same luminosity are known and thought to be evolving towards the red supergiant phase, but these are rare as this is expected to be a rapid transition. Because yellow hypergiants are post-red supergiant stars, there is a fairly hard upper limit to their luminosity at around 500,000–750,000  L ☉ , but blue hypergiants can be much more luminous, sometimes several million L ☉ . Almost all hypergiants exhibit variations in luminosity over time due to instabilities within their interiors, but these are small except for two distinct instability regions where luminous blue variables (LBVs) and yellow hypergiants are found. Because of their high masses,

5950-501: The same parts of the HR diagram as LBVs but do not necessarily show the LBV variations. Some but not all LBVs show the characteristics of hypergiant spectra at least some of the time, but many authors would exclude all LBVs from the hypergiant class and treat them separately. Blue hypergiants that do not show LBV characteristics may be progenitors of LBVs, or vice versa, or both. Lower mass LBVs may be

6035-485: The second supernova to be observed in a generation, after Tycho Brahe observed SN 1572 in Cassiopeia . There is some evidence that the youngest known supernova in our galaxy, G1.9+0.3 , occurred in the late 19th century, considerably more recently than Cassiopeia A from around 1680. Neither was noted at the time. In the case of G1.9+0.3, high extinction from dust along the plane of the galactic disk could have dimmed

6120-452: The spectrum. SN 1961f in NGC 3003 was the prototype and only member of the type IV class, with a light curve similar to a type II-P supernova, with hydrogen absorption lines but weak hydrogen emission lines . The type V class was coined for SN 1961V in NGC 1058 , an unusual faint supernova or supernova impostor with a slow rise to brightness, a maximum lasting many months, and an unusual emission spectrum. The similarity of SN 1961V to

6205-404: The star in huge numbers of narrow spectral lines ), continuum driving does not require the presence of "metallic" atoms  — atoms other than hydrogen and helium , which have few such lines — in the photosphere . This is important, since most massive stars also are very metal-poor, which means that the effect must work independently of the metallicity . In the same line of reasoning,

6290-514: The star prior to the supernova event, given in multiples of the Sun's mass, although the mass at the time of the supernova may be much lower. Type IIn supernovae are not listed in the table. They can be produced by various types of core collapse in different progenitor stars, possibly even by type Ia white dwarf ignitions, although it seems that most will be from iron core collapse in luminous supergiants or hypergiants (including LBVs). The narrow spectral lines for which they are named occur because

6375-497: The strong hydrogen emissions whose broadened spectral lines indicate significant mass loss. Evolved lower mass supergiants do not return from the red supergiant phase, either exploding as supernovae or leaving behind a white dwarf. Luminous blue variables are a class of highly luminous hot stars that display characteristic spectral variation. They often lie in a "quiescent" zone with hotter stars generally being more luminous, but periodically undergo large surface eruptions and move to

6460-462: The supernova is expanding into a small dense cloud of circumstellar material. It appears that a significant proportion of supposed type IIn supernovae are supernova impostors, massive eruptions of LBV-like stars similar to the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae . In these events, material previously ejected from the star creates the narrow absorption lines and causes a shock wave through interaction with

6545-422: The surrounding interstellar medium , sweeping up an expanding shell of gas and dust observed as a supernova remnant. Supernovae are a major source of elements in the interstellar medium from oxygen to rubidium . The expanding shock waves of supernovae can trigger the formation of new stars . Supernovae are a major source of cosmic rays . They might also produce gravitational waves . The word supernova has

6630-409: The table above, are taxonomic : the type number is based on the light observed from the supernova, not necessarily its cause. For example, type Ia supernovae are produced by runaway fusion ignited on degenerate white dwarf progenitors, while the spectrally similar type Ib/c are produced from massive stripped progenitor stars by core collapse. A white dwarf star may accumulate sufficient material from

6715-820: The universe was merely 1.8 billion years old. These findings offer crucial insights into the early universe's stellar evolution and the frequency of supernovae during its formative years. Because supernovae are relatively rare events within a galaxy, occurring about three times a century in the Milky Way, obtaining a good sample of supernovae to study requires regular monitoring of many galaxies. Today, amateur and professional astronomers are finding several hundred every year, some when near maximum brightness, others on old astronomical photographs or plates. Supernovae in other galaxies cannot be predicted with any meaningful accuracy. Normally, when they are discovered, they are already in progress. To use supernovae as standard candles for measuring distance, observation of their peak luminosity

6800-480: The white dwarf is surrounded by an envelope of hydrogen-rich circumstellar material . These supernovae have been dubbed type Ia/IIn , type Ian , type IIa and type IIan . The quadruple star HD 74438 , belonging to the open cluster IC 2391 the Vela constellation , has been predicted to become a non-standard type Ia supernova. Very massive stars can undergo core collapse when nuclear fusion becomes unable to sustain

6885-460: The year they occurred: SN 185, SN 1006, SN 1054, SN 1572 (called Tycho's Nova ) and SN 1604 ( Kepler's Star ). Since 1885 the additional letter notation has been used, even if there was only one supernova discovered that year (for example, SN 1885A, SN 1907A, etc.); this last happened with SN 1947A. SN , for SuperNova, is a standard prefix. Until 1987, two-letter designations were rarely needed; since 1988, they have been needed every year. Since 2016,

6970-548: Was documented by Chinese astronomers in 185 AD. The brightest recorded supernova was SN 1006 , which was observed in AD 1006 in the constellation of Lupus . This event was described by observers in China, Japan, Iraq, Egypt and Europe. The widely observed supernova SN 1054 produced the Crab Nebula . Supernovae SN 1572 and SN 1604 , the latest Milky Way supernovae to be observed with

7055-460: Was estimated from temperature measurements and the gamma ray emissions from the radioactive decay of titanium-44 . The most luminous supernova ever recorded is ASASSN-15lh , at a distance of 3.82 gigalight-years . It was first detected in June 2015 and peaked at 570 billion  L ☉ , which is twice the bolometric luminosity of any other known supernova. The nature of this supernova

7140-482: Was expanded to 1701 light curves for 1550 supernovae taken from 18 different surveys, a 50% increase in under 3 years. Supernova discoveries are reported to the International Astronomical Union 's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams , which sends out a circular with the name it assigns to that supernova. The name is formed from the prefix SN , followed by the year of discovery, suffixed with

7225-503: Was used, as "super-Novae", in a journal paper published by Knut Lundmark in 1933, and in a 1934 paper by Baade and Zwicky. By 1938, the hyphen was no longer used and the modern name was in use. American astronomers Rudolph Minkowski and Fritz Zwicky developed the modern supernova classification scheme beginning in 1941. During the 1960s, astronomers found that the maximum intensities of supernovae could be used as standard candles , hence indicators of astronomical distances. Some of

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