3 ms·
> Supernova explosions are asymmetric, and the remnants are ejected at high speed—up to millions of kilometers per hour—and, even worse, this happens in an unkn
by A_No_Name_Mouse 4y ago
> Supernova explosions are asymmetric, and the remnants are ejected at high speed—up to millions of kilometers per hour—and, even worse, this happens in an unknown and random direction for every object.
Doesn't this influence their usefulness as standard candles for measuring long distances? Or is luminosity of the supernova not affected by this?
- bcjordan 4y agoHopefully someone more knowledgeable about this chimes in but I believe calculating the redshift by knowing the expected spectrum and comparing to the observed spectrum gives us the info needed for distance (since along the way the light is constantly stretched by the expansion of the universe). From Wikipedia on supernovae: > Because of the expansion of the universe, the distance to a remote object with a known emission spectrum can be estimated by measuring its Doppler shift (or redshift); on average, more-distant objects recede with greater velocity than those nearby, and so have a higher redshift. And a bit on Hubble's law / the early discoveries around cosmological redshift: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble%27s_law https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble%27s_law
- animitronix 4y agoOnly certain supernovas are usable as standard candles, like type 1A.
- MrsPeaches 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova
- Maursault 4y agoJust in case, since your statement is ambiguous.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Standard_candles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Standard_candles