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Astronomy and Space

Stars

What is a supernova?

A supernova is the death explosion of a massive star. Immediately after the explosion, the brightness of the star can outshine the entire galaxy, followed by a gradual fading. A supernova is a fairly rare event. The last supernova observed in our galaxy was in 1604. In February 1987, Supernova 1987A appeared in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy.



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