a star that explodes catastrophically owing to either instabilities following the exhaustion of its nuclear fuel or gravitational collapse following the accretion of matter from an orbiting companion star, becoming for a few days up to one hundred million times brighter than the sun. The expanding shell of debris (the supernova remnant) creates a nebula that radiates radio waves, X-rays, and light, for hundreds or thousands of years
Compare nova
Examples of 'supernovae' in a sentence
supernovae
There's hope that these rings will shield Neverness from the light of the supernovae.
Zindell, David THE BROKEN GOD
The light from the blinkans, from the supernovae that the Architects have made, this shaida light races across the galaxy, yes?
Zindell, David THE BROKEN GOD
The most obvious of these are the exploding stars known as supernovae.
2019, 'TESS Starts to Deliver', Smithsonianhttps://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/tess-starts-deliver-180971205/
It will also detect supernovae — distant stars in their explosive death throes.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Astronomers made more than 104,000 observations with it, including planets, comets, stars, interstellar gas, supernovae, planetary aurorae, galaxies, and quasars.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
However, scientists have never been able to work out just what it is that makes supernovae so explosive.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
They are designing an experiment to simulate the conditions generated when ageing stars explode into supernovae.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Supernovae are discovered frequently - this is the tenth in 2014 alone - but this one is special.