MiWord of the Day is… Supernova!

So, what does medical imaging have to do with a Supernova? Well in the B-movie – Supernova a deep space medical ship responds to a distress signal from a nearby mining planet and gets too close to a Red Supergiant ready to go Supernova. Is your geek alert tingling?


Well, believe it or not Supernovas are explosions of giant stars. Nuclear fusion produces iron in the cores of these stars. Such dense matter at the core creates a tendency for the star to collapse on itself due to gravitational pull. This is kept in check by the massive amounts of energy the star is constantly releasing. But what happens when the star starts to run out of fuel? Yup, you guessed it. It collapses on itself and implodes. As the star rushes inwards, protons and electrons combine to produce neutrons that in turn collide with the core and produce a crazy big explosion. This sudden release of energy is accompanied by the production of x-rays. Yes, I am serious. What is left behind of the exploded star is either a neutron star or a black hole depending on the mass of the remains.


So, a supernova is essentially a giant x-ray machine? Maybe not. However, by studying these cosmic x-rays astronomers are able to help describe the structure of the universe (not Castle Greyskull). Cool. 


Question for you: should we be concerned with being exposed to cosmic x-rays?  No. Cosmic x-rays are pretty much completely filtered out by our atmosphere by the time they get to the surface. So, how do astronomers get readings? Good question. By placing their recording instruments on satellites and spacecraft, of course!



Now on to using supernova in a sentence today:
Serious example – So did you catch the last supernova in our galaxy? Happened about 400 years ago. No? The next one should be soon as it is overdue by about 300 years. 


Less serious – Growing up I always loved the Chevy Nova SS. Especially when it was customized. It surely was a super Nova…




Enjoy Ray LaMontagne – Supernova to recover from today’s post and  I’ll see you in the blogosphere.






Pascal Tyrrell