I Supernova - What would you see if watching one from close by?

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Watching a supernova from close proximity would not reveal lumps of molten heavy metals, as the extreme energies involved cause everything to disperse into plasma. Instead, the aftermath results in a rapidly expanding cloud of dust and gas, known as a nebula, which eventually cools and contributes to the formation of new stars and planets. The materials from a supernova mix with the interstellar medium, creating a diverse composition that can lead to new stellar systems. While the explosion is visually stunning, the intense radiation would be lethal to any observer nearby. Ultimately, supernovae play a crucial role in the cosmic cycle of matter and star formation.
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I know supernovae can create some very heavy elements (such as Uranium, Plutonium, Gold and so on...)
Supposing you could watch such a colossal explosion from closeby without getting vaporized, would you see lumps of molten heavy metals (and other elements) flying everywhere in outer space and then coalescing into bigger and bigger blobs (to form asteroids and such)?
 
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It would be hot and beautiful
 
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benhall96 said:
It would be hot and beautiful
I hope I'm still alive when Betelgeuse goes off. It would be awesome to see it.
 
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Definitely
 
No, it should be all in the form of quickly dispersing plasma. The stellar interior is held together by extreme pressures from top layers - once it's unbound, everything flies apart.
There's no clumping until much later, long after the debris will have cooled and been assimilated by interstellar clouds. Only when these clouds collapse to form new stars, the density increases again, allowing clumping.
 
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BetaZeta2016 said:
I know supernovae can create some very heavy elements (such as Uranium, Plutonium, Gold and so on...)
Supposing you could watch such a colossal explosion from closeby without getting vaporized, would you see lumps of molten heavy metals (and other elements) flying everywhere in outer space and then coalescing into bigger and bigger blobs (to form asteroids and such)?

The energies involved are way too large to allow for there to be anything like lumps of metal. It will eventually cool enough to form an expanding cloud of dust and gas called a nebula.
 
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Janus said:
The energies involved are way too large to allow for there to be anything like lumps of metal. It will eventually cool enough to form an expanding cloud of dust and gas called a nebula.
And that nebula will eventually give rise to new stars and even planets. Pretty cool.
 
BetaZeta2016 said:
And that nebula will eventually give rise to new stars and even planets. Pretty cool.
Well, not directly. This material will spread out and mix with the interstellar medium. After some time, this new mix will form its own concentration of dust and gasses that can collapse to form new stars and planetary systems. It is possible for that collapsing cloud to contain elements from more than one supernova.
 
A typical stellar precursor cloud is a eclectic collage of primordial elements, stellar detritus, comet and planetary shards, even garbage jettisoned from alien cruise ships. In other words almost anything imaginable. The dominant component is virgin hydrogen and helium from the BB [~75% - 25%]. This is because the universe is only old enough to have used up a fraction of the raw materials created during the BB. Only a handful of generations of stars have since contributed to the mix, which continues to evolve, albeit slowly, under the influence of energetic events like GRB's and supernovae.
 
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The super novas can create shock waves. The wave can force clouds into a denser state then they would otherwise be. That will be many lightyears away.

Standing close by you might see your eyes melt and turn to vapor. I do not know if brain tissue or eye tissue is more rapidly destroyed by high energy radiation.
 

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