Question 2 of 21

A star will become a supernova when there is __________.

... The stage is set for a supernova when there is insufficient fuel in the star's core for fusion to exert enough outward pressure to resist the inward gravitational pull.

Question 3 of 21

In August 2011, scientists at UC Berkeley noticed a relatively close supernova located in which constellation?

... The supernova PTF 11kly is located in the "Big Dipper," or Ursa Major, constellation. It was first observed soon after it exploded.

Question 4 of 21

The PTF 11kly supernova occurred about _________ years ago.

... The explosion observed during the summer of 2011 occurred about 21 million years ago. It was at such a great distance that it took that long for its light to reach Earth.

Question 5 of 21

The first supernova ever recorded occurred about _____________ years ago.

... In A.D. 186, Chinese astronomers referred to a "guest star," which they monitored for eight months. After studying ancient records, scientists in the 1960s recognized this phenomenon as an observed supernova.

Question 6 of 21

What stars typically die as supernovas?

... Small stars tend to die off quietly, while very large stars usually end in a massive explosion.

Question 7 of 21

There are two physical types of supernova: one is at the end of a star's life, and the other is __________.

... In a type 1a supernova, the white dwarf in a binary system accumulates too much mass, and the fusion process gets out of control.

Question 8 of 21

A massive star will begin to collapse when ________ is the only element left in the core.

... Fusing iron does not produce enough energy to stop the collapse of a star.

Question 9 of 21

Supernovas spread materials that are the building blocks of __________.

... Supernovas spread elements that were created by both the star and the supernova. These are the primary materials responsible for everything in the universe. Even humans are made of star dust.

Question 10 of 21

A type 1a supernova is also called a _________.

... Type 1a supernovas are relatively predictable in their timelines and brightness levels; this regularity earns them the nickname "standard candles."

Question 11 of 21

How long from now do astronomers predict that our sun will become a supernova?

... Our sun does not have the mass needed to go supernova, so it will likely die a much quieter death.

Question 12 of 21

Supernovas with the greatest mass in their cores may become _________

... The heavy mass of a supernova's core may cause it to sink into itself due to tremendous gravitational pull, creating a black hole.

Question 13 of 21

The timeframe for a supernova star to go from shrinking to exploding is _________.

... The shrinking and exploding process takes about a quarter of a second.

Question 14 of 21

The stars that become types 1b, 1c and 2 supernovas are at least _____ times the size of Earth's sun.

... Stars that become those three types of supernova were originally about eight times larger than our sun.

Question 15 of 21

The temperature of a supernova usually reaches about __________.

... When a star's core starts to collapse, it reaches a temperature of about 100 billion degrees Celsius, or 180 billion degrees Fahrenheit.

Question 16 of 21

In 1987, a supernova occurred that _________.

... A supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud (adjacent to the Milky Way) could be seen with the naked eye.

Question 17 of 21

Stars typically fuse hydrogen to form _________.

... During a star's life, hydrogen is continually fused, creating the heavier element helium.

Question 18 of 21

During the supernova process, the core of a star collapses suddenly, and the star's diameter shrinks from about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) to just more than __________.

... The diameter of a star will decrease rapidly to only about 12 miles (19 kilometers) when its core collapses.

Question 19 of 21

In 2007, NASA's Chandra, an orbiting X-ray telescope, discovered SN 2006gy, the brightest supernova known to humans; it had _____ times more energy than a typical supernova

... In a galaxy 240 million light years away, SN 2006gy produced 100 times more energy than its ordinary supernova cousins. It was 100,000 million times brighter than our sun.

Question 20 of 21

The most recent supernova in the Milky Way galaxy took place about _______ years ago.

... In 2007, NASA studied images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and found supernova G1.9+0.3, which occurred about 140 years ago. Before that, the most recent supernova in the Milky Way was observed by Johannes Kepler in 1604.

Question 21 of 21

When its core begins shrinking, a star ____________.

... While the inside of the star contracts, the outside appears to swell massively into what scientists call a red supergiant.

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