| UPDATED: 15:02, Tue, Feb 9, 2021
Link copied Sign up for FREE for the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks
SUBSCRIBE Invalid email
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters.
Sometimes they ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer.
Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Supernovas come in various shapes and sizes but are widely regarded as the Universe s biggest fireworks. Astronomers originally classified these as either Type I or Type II supernovas although today we know there are many more types with their own quirks. One such classification is a Type Ia supernova, which involves a white dwarf - the hot core of a star that has shed its outer layers - being ripped apart by a runaway thermonuclear reaction caused by the star merging with or siphoning too much material from a nearby companion.