Core-collapse Supernova

3D ModelNoAI

A core-collapse supernova, the final fate of stars with mass greater than 8 times the mass of our Sun. When the thermonuclear reactions that occur in the core of massive stars start to synthesize iron, the nuclear fusion becomes unstable. As a result, the energy produced by nuclear fusion is no longer able to sustein the core against the star’s gravity and the core collapses into a neutron star or black hole. The collapse triggers a shock that propagates through the star interior and, when it reaches the stellar surface, causes a violent ejection of the outer layers of the star. Then the star suddenly increases its brightness by several orders of magnitudes, becoming comparable in luminosity to that of the entire host galaxy: a supernova shines in the sky. At the same time, energy, mass and heavy elements are released in the circumstellar and interstellar medium. The model represents the immediate aftermath soon after the breakout of the shock wave (the transparent outer layer) at the stellar surface.