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Eta Carinae, in the constellation of Carina, one of the nearer candidates for a hypernova

Hypernova (pl. hypernovae) refers to an exceptionally large star that collapses at the end of its lifespan—for example, a collapsar, or a large supernova. Up until the 1990s, it had a more specific meaning to refer to an explosion with an energy of over 100 supernovae (10⁴⁶ joules). Such explosions were proposed to explain the exceptional brightnesses of gamma ray bursts. An extensive sky search found several apparent hypernova remnants, but the frequency was too low to support the hypothesis.^[1] Today the term is used somewhat more prosaically to describe the supernovae of supermassive stars, the hypergiants, which have masses from 100 to 150 times that of the Sun. Hypernovae can pose serious threat to Earth, but no stars capable of crating hypernovae are located near Earth. Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... A huge, billowing pair of gas and dust clouds are captured in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the supermassive star Eta Carinae. ... A huge, billowing pair of gas and dust clouds are captured in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the supermassive star Eta Carinae. ... It has been suggested that Homunculus Nebula be merged into this article or section. ... Hypernova is an Iranian indie-rock band based in Tehran. ... STAR is an acronym for: Organizations Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers], the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticket industry in the UK. Society for Telescopy, Astronomy, and Radio, a non-profit New Jersey astronomy club. ... Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... The joule (IPA pronunciation: or ) (symbol: J) is the SI unit of energy. ... The image above shows the optical afterglow of gamma ray burst GRB-990123 taken on January 23, 1999. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Sun (Latin: Sol) is the star at the center of the Solar System. ...

The word Collapsar, short for collapsed star, is an early word for the end product of stellar gravitational collapse, a stellar-mass black hole. The word, used in this sense, is obsolete; but the term "collapsar" now sometimes refers to a specific model for the collapse of a fast-rotating star, as discussed below. A stellar black hole is a black hole formed by the gravitational collapse of a massive star (3 or more solar masses) at the end of its lifetime. ...

Collapsing star

The core of the hypernova collapses directly into a black hole and two extremely energetic jets of plasma are emitted from its rotational poles at nearly the speed of light. These jets emit intense gamma rays, and are a candidate explanation for gamma ray bursts. In recent years a great deal of observational data on gamma ray bursts significantly increased our understanding of these events, and made clear that the collapse model produces explosions that differ only in detail from more or less ordinary supernovae. Nevertheless, they continue to sometimes be referred to in the literature as hypernovae. The word hypernova itself was coined by S.E. Woosley. A stellar black hole is a black hole formed by the gravitational collapse of a massive star (3 or more solar masses) at the end of its lifetime. ... Simulated view of a black hole in front of the Milky Way. ... A plasma lamp, illustrating some of the more complex phenomena of a plasma, including filamentation. ... A line showing the speed of light on a scale model of Earth and the Moon The speed of light in a vacuum is an important physical constant denoted by the letter c for constant or the Latin word celeritas meaning swiftness.[1] It is the speed of all electromagnetic... This article is about electromagnetic radiation. ... The image above shows the optical afterglow of gamma ray burst GRB-990123 taken on January 23, 1999. ... An abstract machine, also called an abstract computer, is a theoretical model of a computer hardware or software system. ... Stanford E. Woosley (born December 8, 1944) is a physicist, and Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics. ...

Since stars sufficiently large to collapse directly into a black hole are quite rare, hypernovae would likewise be rare, if they indeed occur. It has been estimated that a hypernova would occur in our galaxy every 200 million years. Simulated view of a black hole in front of the Milky Way. ...

Collapsar is currently used as the name of a hypothetical model where a fast-rotating Wolf-Rayet star with a massive (greater than 30 solar masses) core collapses to form a large, rotating black hole, drawing in the surrounding envelope of stellar matter at relativistic speeds with a Lorentz factor of around 150. These speeds would make collapsars the fastest known celestial objects. They may be considered to be "failed" Type Ib supernovae. Artists impression of a Wolf-Rayet star Wolf-Rayet stars (often referred to as WR stars) are evolved, hot, massive stars which have very strong stellar winds. ... In astronomy, the solar mass is a unit of mass used to express the mass of stars and larger objects such as galaxies. ... Matter is the substance of which physical objects are composed. ... The special theory of relativity was proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in his article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. Some three centuries earlier, Galileos principle of relativity had stated that all uniform motion was relative, and that there was no absolute and well-defined state of rest... It has been suggested that Lorentz term be merged into this article or section. ... Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ...

It is believed that collapsars are the cause of long (> 2 seconds) gamma-ray bursts, since powerful energy jets would be created along the rotation axis of the black hole, creating a burst of high-energy radiation to an observer whose line of sight is along the jet. Radiation as used in physics, is energy in the form of waves or moving subatomic particles. ...

A possible example of a collapsar is the supernova Sn1998bw, which was associated with the gamma-ray burst GRB980425. This was classified as a type Ic supernova due to its unusual spectral properties in the radio spectrum, indicating the presence of relativistic matter. However, it should be noted that Sn1998bw was an unusual supernova, and that GRB980425 was an unusual gamma-ray burst. SN 1998bw was a rare type I/Ib gamma ray supernova detected on April 26, 1998 in the ESO 184-G82 spiral galaxy. ... Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ... In most modern usages of the word spectrum, there is a unifying theme of between extremes at either end. ...

Another type of hypernova is a Pair-instability supernova, of which SN 2006gy may have been the first observed example. This supernova event was observed in a galaxy about 240 million light years (72 million parsecs) from Earth. In a pair-instability supernova, the pair production effect causes a sudden pressure drop in the star's core, leading to a rapid partial collapse, which causes a rapid rise in temperature and pressure leading to an explosive thermonuclear burning and complete explosion of the star. This illustration explains the pair-instability supernova process that astronomers think triggered the explosion in SN 2006gy. ... SN 2006gy and the core of its home galaxy, NGC 1260, viewed in x-ray light from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. ... Pair production refers to the creation of an elementary particle and its antiparticle, usually from a photon (or another neutral boson). ...

Collapsars in science fiction

Collapsars form Einstein-Rosen Bridges which enable the much faster-than-light movement of starships in Joe Haldeman's science fiction novel The Forever War. One of the fictional ships called the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek, one of the most famous fictional starships. ... Joseph William Haldeman is an American science fiction author. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... 1977 Orbit paperback edition. ...

Larry Niven used a massive collapsar to create a time travel effect for the short story "Singularities Make Me Nervous." This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The Disney movie The Black Hole featured a collapsar as a subject of scientific study by a deranged scientist determined to enter it. Disney may refer to: The Walt Disney Company and its divisions, including Walt Disney Pictures. ... The Black Hole is a 1979 science fiction movie directed for Walt Disney Productions by Gary Nelson. ...

Jerry Pournelle used a collapsar as a means of causing a ship to drop out of hyperspace unintentionally due to the gravitational effect in the story "He Fell Into a Dark Hole." Jerry Eugene Pournelle, Ph. ...

References

• A. I. MacFadyen and S. E. Woosley "Collapsars: Gamma-Ray Bursts and Explosions in 'Failed Supernovae'" Astrophysical Journal, Vol 524, Pages 262–289, October 1999.
• Stanford E. Woosley "Gamma-ray bursts from stellar mass accretion disks around black holes" Astrophysical Journal, Vol 405, Pages 273–277, March 1993.
• Tsvi Piran "The Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts" Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol 76, October 2004

The Astrophysical Journal is one of the foremost research journals devoted to recent developments, discoveries, and theories in astronomy and astrophysics. ... The Reviews of Modern Physics are a journal of the American Physical Society. ...

See also

• Supernova
• Nova
• Dwarf nova
• Gamma ray burst
• Black hole
• Wolf-Rayet star
• Pair-instability supernova

Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ... Artists conception of a white dwarf star accreting hydrogen from a larger companion A nova (pl. ... A dwarf nova is a type of cataclysmic variable, consisting of a close binary star system in which one of the components is a white dwarf, which accretes matter from its companion. ... The image above shows the optical afterglow of gamma ray burst GRB-990123 taken on January 23, 1999. ... Simulated view of a black hole in front of the Milky Way. ... Artists impression of a Wolf-Rayet star Wolf-Rayet stars (often referred to as WR stars) are evolved, hot, massive stars which have very strong stellar winds. ... This illustration explains the pair-instability supernova process that astronomers think triggered the explosion in SN 2006gy. ...

References and further reading

• Cosmological Gamma-Ray Bursts and Hypernovae Conclusively Linked European Southern Observatory (ESO)