A Supernova Will Be Visible in the Sky in 2016

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A supernova will be visible in the sky in early 2016, according to Hubble Space Telescope.

First spotted in 2014, we will get another chance to view this amazing event. We are able to see this from a phenomenon known as gravitational lens.

A gravitational lens refers to a distribution of matter (such as a cluster of galaxies) between a distant source and an observer, that is capable of bending the light from the source, as it travels towards the observer. This effect is known as gravitational lensing and the amount of bending is one of the predictions of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.(Classical physics also predicts bending of light, but only half that of general relativity’s.

A supernova is a stellar explosion that briefly outshines an entire galaxy, radiating as much energy as the Sun or any ordinary star is expected to emit over its entire life span, before fading from view over several weeks or months.

The extremely luminous burst of radiation expels much or all of a star’s material at a velocity of up to30,000 km/s (10% of the speed of light), driving a shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium. This shock wave sweeps up an expanding shell of gas and dust called a supernova remnant. Supernovae fuse and eject the bulk of the primary elements of nucleosynthesis.

They are potentially strong galactic sources of gravitational waves. A great proportion of primary cosmic rays comes from supernovae. Their many significant consequences make supernovae the most important stellar events in astronomy.

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