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rocco13
Got Milk?
Reged: 07/29/06
Posts: 2654
Loc: Phoenix, Arizona
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I was thinking how we cannot see individual stars in other galaxies, yet we can see supernovae in distant galaxies. I started thinking about the size of these novae, and wondered if they would engulf nearby stars as well.
So, hypothetically speaking, if our sun were to go supernova, how many surrounding stars would we have to say goodbye to also? Alpha & Proxima Centauri for sure (I'd bet), but would it expand far enough to affect Vega, at 25 LY away, or Arcturus (37 LY)?
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Rocco
Zhumell Z12
Super C8 (1984 vintage)
Celestron 102 f/5
and a cheap pair of binoculars
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skyward_eyes
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/12/06
Posts: 2102
Loc: Arizona
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Even if the sun could I do not think it would be nearly massive enough to produce an explosion powerful enough to stretch 4 light years and harm the other star. SN1987A in the LMC exploded 2/23/87 and the inner ring was only recorded at 1.32 light years across after closely watching it for 8 years. So no I do not think the sun would be massive enough even if it could to harm any near by star.
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Darenwh
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/11/06
Posts: 1224
Loc: Covington, GA
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No, they don't engulf other stars. They are just so bright that they are visible on their own, seperate from the other stars in the galaxy. It is not that they are larger, just so much brighter that they are visible. Think of regular stars you see every night. Each of these presents a disk so small that no telescope can resolve the disk of the star. (A few pro observatory scopes are getting close though.) They are visible because they are so bright that the eye cannot ignore them so it sees them even if it does not see the surface of them. This is why no matter how bright the star is it does not look like a disk in your telescope. You can use enough magnification in your scope to see the airy disk but this is an optical illusion cast by your telescope, not the true disk of the star.
Yes, as a supernova or nova explodes they cast pieces of themselves into space but they don't swell to be multiple light years in diameter even though their remnants, over time, will be pushed out multiple light years from the dieing star.
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Daren
Covington, GA
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Bill Weir
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 1297
Loc: Metchosin (Victoria), Canada
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A star large enough to go SN might not disrupt a neighboring star but it might affect any inhabitants of any habitable planets orbiting that other star. The various radiations ejected from such a blast would be phenominal.
Track down this book, it's a trip. http://www.amazon.com/Death-Skies-These-Ways-World/dp/0670019976
It will answer for you many such questions as this.
Bill
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6'' Orion SkyQuest
12.5'' f/5 Custom Truss Dob
William Optics 80mm ZenithStar ED II
f/5 25" newtonian on a giant GEM, any time I want
Observing sessions grand total for 2008, 121.
So far in 2009, 92
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rocco13
Got Milk?
Reged: 07/29/06
Posts: 2654
Loc: Phoenix, Arizona
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Thanks, guys. 
I knew the remnants would (over time) expand great distances, but I wasn't sure if the actual event would reach that far. I guess seeing the large bright visual evidence of a SN made me think they were bigger than they actually are.
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Rocco
Zhumell Z12
Super C8 (1984 vintage)
Celestron 102 f/5
and a cheap pair of binoculars
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JayinUT
I'm not Sleepy
Reged: 09/19/08
Posts: 948
Loc: Utah
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A good example is SN 1572 which was a Type Ia Supernova (a white dwarf that steals mass from a companion star and reaches the Chandrasekhar limit of around 1.4 solar masses, and then explodes). The original star had gone through the main sequence to the planetary nebula stage with a developing white dwarf and had a companion that was either a main sequence star like our sun, just older and going through its giant phase of expansion. Named Tycho G it is moving 4x faster than the stars around it and it is felt this is a result of the kick it got when its companion blew. S&T has a nice article on it from 2004 here. If you google SN 1572 and Tycho G you'll find more info.
So in this case the Supernova doesn't destroy its surrounding stars, nor its companion. Though in this case it sure looks like it gave it a kick in movement/speed. It also impacted the surface of Tycho G from what I've read on it.
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Jay in Utah
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Location: Lat: 40.514N Long: -112.032W
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
— Ptolemy, c.150 AD
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scopethis
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/30/08
Posts: 636
Loc: Kingman, Ks
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What about a star exploding in a double or triple star system, would the neighboring star(s) be affected. And (on average)how close are stars to one another in compact star cluster?
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