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supernovae

  • plural
    of supernova.
    supernova
    noun
    the explosion of a star, possibly caused by gravitational collapse, during which the star's luminosity increases by as much as 20 magnitudes and most of the star's mass is blown away at very high velocity, sometimes leaving behind an extremely dense core.

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The researchers plan to broaden their investigation by studying how PBH-triggered explosions might affect the overall population of conventional supernovae and the combined rates of these brief but powerful cosmic events.

From Science Daily Aug. 1, 2026

Their results showed that PBH-triggered SNe Ia could reproduce several characteristics observed in these supernovae and their remnants.

From Science Daily Aug. 1, 2026

An international research team has found that primordial black holes may trigger white dwarf stars to explode as Type Ia supernovae.

From Science Daily Aug. 1, 2026

Published in Nature Astronomy, the research introduces a framework called CIGaRS that can extract far more information from Type Ia supernovae, the powerful stellar explosions used to measure vast cosmic distances.

From Science Daily Jun. 29, 2026

Many of the stars in Orion are hot and young, evolving rapidly and ending their lives in colossal cosmic explosions called supernovae.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan