Black Holes and Supernovas - Fact Finders - The Solar System and Beyond

Sep 29, 2026

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The book explores the far-reaching mysteries of space by explaining how stars drive remarkable events. It describes star life cycles, supernovas, and how the largest stars end their lives with explosions that spread gas and dust across the universe. It further connects supernovas to black holes, presenting black holes as objects that pull in surrounding matter and help explain strange light bending and disappearing clouds. It includes a glossary and index.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

Star Sizes

Mysterious Events

Kaboom!

Black Holes

Searching Space

Glossary

Internet

Index

Black HolesandSuDernOUOSby Joan Marie Galat446Fact finders Fact findersSolar Systemand BeyondBlackHolesand UDernoJ0Sby Joan Marie GalatDr.Ilia I.RoussevAssociate AstronomerInstitute for AstronomyUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa 100 Fact Finders are published by Capstone Press, 151 Good Counse!Drive,P.O.Box 669,Mankato,Minnesota 56002 www.capstonepub.com Copyright ◎2012 by Capstone Press,a Capstone imprint. All rights reserved. No parLof this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part,or stored in a retrievil systenor transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording, or otherwise,without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding perrnission,write to Capstone Press, 151 Good Counsel Drive,P.O.Box 669,Dept.R,Mankato,Minnesota 56002. Books published by Capstone Press are manufactured with papercontaining at least 10 percent post-consumer waste. # Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Galat,Joan Marie,1963- Black holes and supernovas/by Joan Marie Galat. p.cm.—(Fact finders.The solar system and beyond) Summary:"Describes supernovas and black holes,including what they are,how they form, and how scientists research them"—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4296-6004-4(lib.bdg.) [SBN 978-1-4296-7225-2(pbk.) 1.Black holes(Astronomy)—Juvenile literature.2.Supernovae—Juvenile literature.I.Title.QB843.B55G352012523.8'4465—dc222011004238 Editorial Credits Jennifer Besel,editor;Heidi Thompson,designer;Eric Manske,production specialist Photo Credits Capstone Press,17,19,21;ESA:NASA,ESO and Danny LaCrue,6,P.Barthel,29,V.Beckmann(NASAGSFC),23;Getty Images Inc.:Joe McNally,25,Oliver Burston/Ikon Images,13;NASA,ESA,HEIC,and The Hubbie Heritage Team(STScl/AURA),3;NASA,ESA,HEIC,and The Hubble Heritage Team(STScl/AURA),14;NASA,ESA,J.Hester and A.Loll(Arizona State University),15;NASA,ESA,TheHubble Key Project Team and The High-Z Supernova Search Team,5;NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al.cover,1,26;Photo Researchers,Inc:Jeremy Bishop,11,Lionel Bret,18;SOHO(ESA&NASA),8 Artistic EffectsiStockphoto:Dar Yang Yan,Nickilford The author dedicates this book to Ellery,with love. Printed in the United States of America in Stevens Point,Wisconsin.032011006111WZF11 Table of ContentsChapter 1 Mysterious Events...Chapter 2 Kaboom!...........Chapter 3 Black Holes........Chapter 4 Searching Space..................24Glossary......30Read More......31Internet........31Index........32 The space far beyond Earth is full of mysteries.Throughpowerful space telescopes,astronomers have seen light thatseems to bend for no reason.They've seen clouds of dustand gas that disappear.They see explosions that outshineentire galaxies.What’s going on?It turns out that starscause these amazing events. Stars have life cycles,much like people.They are bornand live for billions of years.When they grow old,somestars die amazing deaths.The largest stars go supernova,exploding gas and dust into the universe.Some supernovaslead to another mystery of space called black holes.Scientists believe black holes are the reason light bendsstrangely and clouds disappear. The gas and dust that supernovas spread into theuniverse will eventually form new stars.Black holes pullin space matter,never to be'seen again.These events areamazing pieces to the puzzle of the universe. a picture of a supernova ingalaxy NGC 4526 taken bythe Hubble Space Telescope Tarantula Nebula,the largestknown star-forming area7 # Star Sizes All stars are gigantic compared toplanets.But in the world of stars,someare big and some are small.Astronomerscompare other stars to our Sun to get anunderstanding of sizes.Our Sun is about870,000 miles(1.4 million kilometers)across.The smallest stars are half theSun's mass or smaller.Mass is the amountof matter in an object.These small starsare low mass stars.A high mass star mustbe eight or more solar masses.

FAQs

What do supernovas have to do with black holes?

Some supernovas lead to another space mystery called black holes. Scientists believe black holes are responsible for strange light bending and disappearing clouds.

How are stars’ sizes compared in the book?

Astronomers compare other stars to the Sun to understand sizes. The book notes the Sun’s diameter and explains that stars range from smaller, low-mass stars to high-mass stars.

How do stars live and eventually die?

Stars have life cycles similar to people. They are born, live for billions of years, and when they grow old, some stars die—especially the largest stars, which explode as supernovas.

Sep 29, 2026

Upload by Sarah