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An Explosive Moment
A nova is a very bright and sudden explosion of a star, during which it gets much, much brighter. This probably occurs when hydrogen, an explosive gas, builds up on the star's surface. When a star "goes nova" it can get as much as 40 million times brighter. Usually, a star goes nova several times, re-exploding whenever enough gas builds up. The time between flare-ups ranges from a few weeks to thousands of years. Mike witnessed the latest flare-up of one of the oldest nova ever recorded. It was first observed back in 1670, but had not exploded since. Astronomers hunted it for over three hundred years. Mike looked for it, too. In 1983, he was doing research in Hawaii using one of the largest telescopes in the world. There it was—our first viewing in 330 years. It may be thousands of years before it flares up again—or it could be tomorrow!
Name: Michael Shara
Born: September 12, 1949
Hometown: Montreal, Canada
Position: Chairman and Curator, Department of Astrophysics
Education: Ph.D., Tel Aviv University
Known for: studies of stellar collisions and exploding stars
One of the objects Mike studies is a globular cluster, which is a:
chewy type of space candy
dense swarm of stars
group of intertwined galaxies
Correct!
These roundish clumps of old stars form a cloud that orbits around our galaxy. Because of their age, these stars are like the fossilized remains of the Universe's past.
When Mike was a kid, he wanted to grow up to become:
a sculptor
a Shakespearean actor
an astrophysicist
Correct!
Mike knew that his passion for stars would lead him to a career in astronomy when he was as young as seven.
I wanted to know what happened when stars smashed into each other.
Mike Shara, astrophysicist