A concise illustrated introduction to the history and physics of supernovae the brilliant
explosions of stars with striking color illustrations. Supernovae are the explosions of stars.
They are some of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe rivaling the combined light of
billions of stars. Supernovae have been studied for centuries and they have also made
appearances in popular culture: a glimpse of a supernova in a painting provides Sherlock Holmes
with a crucial clue for example. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series
astrophysicist Or Graur offers a concise and accessible introduction to these awe-inspiring
astronomical phenomena. Graur explains that a deep observational understanding of
supernovae-why and how they shine and how their brightness changes over time-allows us to use
them as tools for experiments in astrophysics and physics. A certain type of supernova for
example brightens and fades in such a predictable manner that we can measure the distances to
their host galaxies. We owe our existence to supernovae-they give us iron for our blood and
calcium for our bones. But supernovae may also have caused a mass extinction event on Earth 2.6
million years ago. Graur shows how observations of supernovae played a role in the
transformation of astronomy from astrology to astrophysics surveys the tools used to study
supernovae today and describes the lives and deaths of stars and the supernova remnants
neutron stars and black holes they leave behind. Illustrations in both color and black and
white many from Graur's own Hubble Space Telescope data make this account of supernovae
particularly vivid.
