Quote:
Originally Posted by stitt29
A question about supernova. I assumed when a star became a supernova it exploded and it threw out all its matter for miles. Then I read the star doesn't explode it collapses into a denser body all that is ejected is a shockwave and heat and light. Which is correct?
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(My bold). The shockwave is ejected material impinging on the interstellar medium, so you just have to adjust that last sentence and you've got it.
The star implodes, then explodes. You can look at this as imploding material "rebounding" off of itself, or you can look at this as the gravitational energy released from the collapse being transformed into kinetic energy of the material.
Elements up-to Iron are produced under normal stellar fusion. Elements above iron are produced during the explosion. So much energy is released that temperatures get high enough for this to happen.