The universe is full of extreme phenomena. Perhaps this is what draws some people to astronomy — it has some of the most extreme physics out there. And supernovae are some of the most extraordinary objects that also have the benefit of being visible to astronomers here on Earth, even long after the explosive event itself.
An incredible amount of energy is involved in a supernova explosion. When I was preparing a talk on how all the elements are made for the 2018 Texas Star Party, I came across a figure for how much energy is output from a single supernova: 1044 Joules (J). A 1 followed by 44 zeroes is an enormous number — 100 million trillion trillion trillion. I wanted to translate that to a somewhat more comprehensible…
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Astronomy (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2025