Supernova

A supernova is the catastrophic explosion of a giant star. Supernovae are powerful enough to eject material from the star at 10% the speed of light and can even briefly outshine their own galaxy. All elements heavier than iron are fused in supernovae. A supernova leaves behind a stellar remnant and a special kind of nebula known as a supernova remnant.

There are 2 main types of supernovae: type I and type II. These are further subdivided into Ia,Ib,Ic, IIP, IIL, IIn and IIb. The differences between these types are rather complicated, but those searching for more details can find them here.

Type Ia supernovae are caused by the thermal runaway of a white dwarf which has exceeded its Chandrasekhar limit and thus has begun to fuse carbon at its core (see White Dwarfs). They eject material at 3% the speed of light and have a luminosity of about 5 billion L☉.

All other types of supernovae are caused by the core collapse of a very massive star. This can be tabulated as follows:



The effects of a supernova are truly devastating. The star's system will likely be destroyed (the planets either ejected from the system, disintegrated or at the very least incinerated by radiation) and the habitability of nearby systems could also be negatively affected.

Worldbuilding in Practise
NV 012 is a Supernova explosion that caused several species to be extinct on several Garden World. The Progenitor is a massive blue star 9 times the mass of our sun, and formed a Pulsar. We don't know much about the supernova, however, we detected a shockwave hurdling towards the Nephele Nebula, which will cause a huge amount of stars born in the Nebula.