When Stars Attack!

In Search of Killer Supernovae

research by

Brian Fields

Graduate Students:

Kathrin Hochmuth, Ghazi Zouaoui

and Undergraduate ASTR290 Supernova Veterans:

Chris Weigand '01, Paul Tumaneng '02, Angela Zalucha '04

ASTR 230 Lecture, Nov. 19, 2004

Supernova Explosions

What is a supernova?

• SN 1994D
• Veil nebula

Historical supernovae

• SN1572 (Tycho): Tycho's sketch in 1572; Bayer's Uranometria (1603); X-rays today
• SN1604 (Kepler) X-ray
• SN1054: Chaco Canyon, New Mexico paintings; HST Crab nebula
• Supernova 1987A:
  before/after; HST rings, 1997 update, 2000 update
  neutrinos detected: a prizewinning discovery

Ashes of nuclear fires

• Element formation
• The circle of life
• The radioactive sky

Too Close For Comfort: Supernovae Near the Earth

Dangers, Remains, and the First Evidence Found

• How close is too close?
• Supernova hazards: Nachbarsternsupernovaexplosionsgefahr
  ozone hole today
• Nuclear fossils of a nearby supernova
• Evidence at the bottom of the sea:
  New Scientist article with Mona Pihoa site
  Munich AMS experiment
• The Smoking Gun: Possible identification of supernova site in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association

Late-Breaking News: ⁶⁰Fe Measured in a New Sample

• new data has higher precision
• confirms earlier result
• pins down supernova date
• opens the way for supernova archaeology