Astronomy Major Assignment - Research Paper Example

These are rays that form from the interaction of the shock waves with subatomic particles causing acceleration of rays with the speed of light that constitute cosmic rays. The duration of supernova is difficult to determine and is mainly grouped into three stages. The explosion stage is the first stage and it normally takes a minimum time of a second. The second phase is the time it takes to reach its peak brightness which is normally a few days (Bodenheimer, 2011). The last phase is the phase it takes to dim out which normally takes a few months or years.

The time for the whole process therefore ranges from months to years depending on the type of supernova. Many chemical elements result in the remaining remnants of a supernova explosion. The chemicals may be original in the remnants or may be as a result of heating up of the ejected gases by the shock waves emitted. The elements are cobalt, sodium, nickel and sodium. The other compounds that form are radioactive isotopes formed by the interaction of the shock waves and the emitted materials. Recently there are studies showing the Supernova 1987A emitting ‘star guts’ with a velocity (Bodenheimer, 2011).

There were other elements this supernova ejects: helium, hydrogen, oxygen, silicon, iron and sulfur. The energy a supernova radiates is close to the energy of billions of sun put together. This explosion frequently occurs in other galaxies in the universe except the Milky Way galaxy where there have been few supernova events. The explosion has the effect of distributing elements and speeding cosmic rays in the galaxy besides increasing the temperature in the of the galaxy medium (Knapp, 2013).

The explosion emits radiation that can be estimated to the energy released by a 1028 megaton bomb. Supernovae form in many different ways. The mode of formation dictates the type of supernova that forms. They are classified with regards to the physical type and nature & shape of the spectra.