The discussion revolves around the energy output of supernovae, specifically addressing how a supernova can outshine an entire galaxy. Participants explore the energy released during different types of supernovae and express interest in calculations related to this energy. The conversation includes references to specific supernova events and the physics behind their explosions.
Participants express varying levels of understanding and agreement regarding the energy calculations and the physics of supernovae. There is no clear consensus on the exact energy values or the implications of the processes discussed.
Some discussions involve complex processes and assumptions about the physics of supernovae, including the interactions of particles under extreme conditions, which may not be fully resolved or understood.
Readers interested in astrophysics, particularly in the phenomena of supernovae, energy calculations, and the underlying physics of stellar explosions may find this discussion valuable.
From these, and links, you can get info on the energy release of a Type Ia and Type II supernova, respectively.Zelos said:a supernova can out light a entire galaxy. I've read it can give out about 10^44J of energy is there anyone of you who now the amount of energy released mor exacly or even better know how to calculate it? i love calculating stuff.
As the density in the collapsing core skyrockets, electrons and protons are pushed together until their electrical attraction overcomes their inherent nuclear repulsion from each other. This combination, a process called "electron capture", creates a neutron and releases a neutrino. The neutrinos escape from the core, carrying away energy and further accelerating the collapse, which proceeds in milliseconds as the core detaches from the outer layers of the star and reaches the density of nuclear matter, where the neutrons press against each other and the entire core is the density of an atomic nucleus. This is the core collapse. At this point neutron degeneracy pressure is sufficient to balance gravity; however the core has actually overshot the equilibrium point and undergoes a slight bounce, creating a shock wave which slams into the collapsing outer layers of the star. A "proto-neutron star" begins to form at the core, though if it is massive enough, it will continue collapsing to form a black hole.
The core collapse phase is known to be so dense and energetic that only neutrinos are able to escape the collapsing star. Most of gravitational potential energy of the collapse gets converted to a 10 second neutrino burst, releasing about 1046 joules (100 foes). Of this energy, about 1044 J (1 foe) is reabsorbed by the star producing an explosion. The energy per particle in a supernova is typically 1 to 150 picojoules (tens to hundreds of MeV). The neutrinos produced by a supernova have been actually observed in the case of Supernova 1987A leading astronomers to conclude that the core collapse picture is basically correct.
This energy is small enough that the standard model of particle physics is likely to be basically correct, but the high densities may include corrections to the standard model. In particular, Earth based accelerators can produce particle interactions which are of much higher energy than are found in supernova, but these experiments involve individual particles interacting with individual particles, and it is likely that the high densities within the supernova will produce novel effects. The interactions between neutrinos and the other particles in the supernova take place with the weak nuclear force which is believed to be well understood. However, the interactions between the protons and neutrons involve the strong nuclear force which is much less well understood.
Zelos said:ts using none SI units