Abstract
Supernovae are a prominent component of modern astrophysics. They are responsible for a major part of the chemical enrichment in the universe and the main recycling mechanism in galaxies. The physics of these explosions is fairly well, although not completely, understood.
This article reviews the current understanding of the supernova explosions. After a brief historical introduction the two main classes of supernovae are described starting from the classification scheme currently employed. The different energy inputs for supernovae are presented. Despite their rather different energy sources supernovae from different types reach very similar luminosities. A notable exception to this are the Gamma-Ray Bursts, which are several orders of magnitude more energetic. The characteristics of each supernova type are presented.
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Leibundgut, B. (2005). Supernovae as Astrophysical Objects. In: Blanchard, A., Signore, M. (eds) Frontiers of Cosmology. NATO Science Series, vol 187. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3057-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3057-6_11
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