SN 1604

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/sn-1604

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How big is SN 1604?Iron-peak elements
2. What is the designation?SN 1604
3. What is the type of supernova?Type Ia
4. What was SN 1604 and why is it special?SN 1604 was a bright star that exploded in 1604, called Kepler's Supernova. It was one of the brightest supernovae seen in our galaxy and showed that stars can change.
5. How did SN 1604 change the way people thought about the sky?Kepler and others observed it and wrote about its brightness and lack of parallax, proving the heavens were not unchanging. This helped scientists move toward modern physics.

Chandrasekhar Limit: The maximum mass a stable white dwarf star can have before collapsing.
Galactic Chemical Enrichment: The process by which heavy elements are distributed throughout a galaxy.
Standard Candle: An astronomical object with a known intrinsic brightness used to measure distances.
Metallicity: The abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium in a celestial object.