There are many spectacular events that happen in the universe. Some events are as common and simple as a sunrise in the morning or the northern lights dancing across the night sky. Other events are less common and hold a beautiful mystic to them like a comet streaking across the sky. Of all the magnificence spectacles that occur in the universe, there are not many that equal the power or beauty of a supernova. Supernovas occur at the end of the star’s life cycle as the star depletes its fuel. According to NASA, as the star runs out of fuel, a portion of the stars mass flows towards the core. This causes the core to grow and eventually due to the gravitational forces of the star, collapses the core causing a spectacular explosion. While it is theorized that a supernova occurs once every second in the universe, few can be seen or studied from earth. The first supernova that was seen and was studied extensively was SN1987A.
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Despite being the first supernova to be studied by modern science, SN1987A was a complete mystery due to its origins. It was progenitor by a blue giant star known as Sanduleak -69 202a. What made this unique was prior this supernova, the leading theory was that only red giants could produce supernovas. When the origin of SN1987A was discovered, it forced astronomers to revise the theory to encompass the events of this supernova. What they came up with was that, similar to a red giant, a portion of the blue giant’s fuel was turned inward to the core. As the core grew, the supernova occurred, leaving behind what astronomers called a neutron star, a compact star entirely made of neutrons and very dense, to the point of forcing out the space between atoms. This was supported by the detection of the Neutrinos by an underground detector in Japan. Just as amazing as the mystery of the origin of SN1987A, is the story behind its
Despite being the first supernova to be studied by modern science, SN1987A was a complete mystery due to its origins. It was progenitor by a blue giant star known as Sanduleak -69 202a. What made this unique was prior this supernova, the leading theory was that only red giants could produce supernovas. When the origin of SN1987A was discovered, it forced astronomers to revise the theory to encompass the events of this supernova. What they came up with was that, similar to a red giant, a portion of the blue giant’s fuel was turned inward to the core. As the core grew, the supernova occurred, leaving behind what astronomers called a neutron star, a compact star entirely made of neutrons and very dense, to the point of forcing out the space between atoms. This was supported by the detection of the Neutrinos by an underground detector in Japan. Just as amazing as the mystery of the origin of SN1987A, is the story behind its