SN 1993J

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

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-1993j

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 heavy is SN 1993J?10-20 solar masses
2. What is the supernova type?Type II-n
3. What is the host galaxy?Messier 109 (M109, NGC 3992)
4. What happened to the star that became SN 1993J?The star exploded in a huge burst called a supernova, releasing as much energy as the Sun will produce over its whole life. The explosion sent out bright light and new elements into space.
5. Why is SN 1993J called a Type II-n supernova?It is called Type II-n because its light spectrum shows very narrow hydrogen lines. These narrow lines mean the hydrogen around the star was dense and not moving very fast.

Core-Collapse Supernova: A supernova resulting from the gravitational collapse of the core of a massive star.
Circumstellar Medium (CSM): The gas and dust surrounding a star, expelled by stellar winds or previous mass-loss events.
Galactic Nucleosynthesis: The process by which elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are created within stars and dispersed into galaxies.
Light Curve: A graph showing the change in brightness of an astronomical object over time.