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Astronomy - Hyper Novas & Galaxies Black Holes
Expert: Philip Stahl - 11/10/2009
Question
I'm a young astrologist and I know about super novas. On google i have seen hyper novas, and I'm just wondering if there is such a term as hyper nova and what is it, and what happens to it after, a nebula or a black hole?
I know that there is a supermassive black hole in the center of the universe. I think I'm also right that we rotate around the black hole. So does that mean that parts of our galaxy are being "eaten" away? And does that also mean that the Milky Way will be "eaten?"
Answer
Hello,
First of all, there's no such thing as an "astrologist'. You have astrologers, and astronomers - but no astrologists!
Now as to "hyper nova", it is well to bear in mind that astronomers are inevitably fond of coining new terms. It appears to be a pretty popular side pastime, perhaps made necessary by the fact that astronomical classifications are hardly ever as final or accurate as originally made out to be. Among the recent classics have been "dwarf planet" (which status Pluto is now evidently relegated to) and "exo-planet" which applies to any distant planet found outside our own solar system. There are about 350-370 exo-planets thus far discovered.
Anyway, it appears that just as "dwarf planet" was coined to apply to really small planets (like Pluto, or the asteroid Eros), "hyper nova" was invented to apply to the explosions associated with really massive stars. We are talking here about stars in the 100-150 solar mass range. Which if they exploded, would yield energies thousands of times greater than standard supernovae. Hence the term "hyper novae"...or perhaps better, "hyper supernovae" since novae are typically associated with incomplete stellar detonations yielding white dwarfs.
Re: the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, I suppose one could say that normal stars in normal galaxies that are very close to the galactic center will be in danger of being "eaten". However, given the total mass of the galaxy is at something on the order of 10^11 solar masses, and the supermassive hole is only at 3 x 10^6 solar masses and maybe "eating" only ~ 10^3 solar masses (on average) per year, I'd say we are pretty safe for the time being.
Yes, the Milky Way will eventually be "eaten" - but so far in the future, give or take ten to a hundred million years or more, that it's not worth fretting over now.
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