Comments by "Mikko Rantalainen" (@MikkoRantalainen) on "How One Supernova Measured The Universe" video.

  1. You can think it as a lot of matter on the surface of the start falling towards the core. When that fall is long enough and the star is massive enough (meaning the acceleration of those atoms is very high) the collision of the atoms in the middle is hard enough to fusion elements that the star was not able to fuse while it was going normally. And every time fusion happens with elements lighter than lead, you get extra energy. And the extra heat from that fusion getting hit with more atoms still falling from the surface will cause even more heat and fusion with very rapid chain reaction. I would guess that the reason supernovas always look similar is related to the fact that elements heavier than lead do not release energy when fused.
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  2. That's a great example of human vision system trying to detect faces everywhere.
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  3. So, if you're on board of a really fast spaceship and turn on your average flashlight, the emitted light to observer in rest will look like gamma radiation, right?
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  4. Are you saying that if he had been American, he would been called e.g. "Oliver Stone" instead?
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