• Question: What is the amount of energy released in a supernova

    Asked by Lizard Up Ladder T-shirt to Nicholas on 16 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Nicholas Pearce

      Nicholas Pearce answered on 16 Nov 2015:

      Hey,

      There’s a special unit of energy to describe supernovae – the F.O.E. it stand for ten to the power Fifty-One-Ergs, which is a lot of energy. It’s pretty much as much energy as the sun makes in its entire lifetime! Hypernovas has also been found that are 100 times more powerful than a supernova!

      There’s so much energy in a supernova that nuclear reactions that can occur that can’t happen in any other way, making all the elements heavier than iron.

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