Carbon detonation is a violent re-ignition of thermonuclear fusion in a dead star, which produces Type Ia supernovae. In physics, nuclear fusion (a thermonuclear reaction) is a process in which two nuclei join, forming a larger nucleus and releasing energy. ... Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ... Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ...

Process

A white dwarf star undergoes carbon detonation only if it has a normal binary companion which is close enough to the dwarf star to dump sufficient amounts of matter onto the dwarf, expelled during the process of the companion's own late stage evolution. Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ... Artists impression of a binary system consisting of a black hole, with an accretion disc around it, and a main sequence star. ... Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ... In astronomy, stellar evolution is the sequence of changes that a star undergoes during its lifetime; the hundreds of thousands, millions or billions of years during which it emits light and heat. ...

If the companion supplies enough matter to the dead star, the white dwarf's internal pressure and temperature will rise high enough to fuse the previously unfusable carbon in the white dwarf's core. Carbon detonation generally occurs when the accreted matter pushes the white dwarf's mass past the Chandrashekhar limit of 1.44 solar masses. Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ... Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ... In physics, nuclear fusion (a thermonuclear reaction) is a process in which two nuclei join, forming a larger nucleus and releasing energy. ... General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ... Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ... In astronomy, the solar mass is a unit of mass used to express the mass of stars and larger objects such as galaxies. ...

Carbon detonation occurs much more rapidly than deflagration, which occurs at much lower velocities and is much less chaotic. Computer simulations show that the fusion front proceeds as a series of turbulent, expanding "bubbles" that exhibit Rayleigh-Taylor instability. [1] Deflagration is a process of subsonic combustion that usually propagates through thermal conductivity (hot burning material heats the next layer of cold material and ignites it). ... RT fingers evident in the Crab Nebula Hydrodynamics simulation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability [1] The Rayleigh-Taylor instability, or RT instability, occurs any time a dense, heavy fluid is being accelerated by light fluid. ...

The turbulence of the unstable fusion front makes it ragged, and the high surface area of the ragged front results in an extremely rapid "burn", known as a "thermonuclear flame". This rapid "burn" erupts explosively through the dwarf star's surface, which is seen as a type Ia supernova. In physics, nuclear fusion (a thermonuclear reaction) is a process in which two nuclei join, forming a larger nucleus and releasing energy. ... In physics, nuclear fusion (a thermonuclear reaction) is a process in which two nuclei join, forming a larger nucleus and releasing energy. ... Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ... Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ...

External links

• JINA: Type Ia Supernova Flame Models
• A Computer Simulation of Carbon Detonation/Deflagration