Supernova - Wikipedia - Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky  ## Metadata - Author: **Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky** - Full Title: Supernova - Wikipedia - Category: #articles - URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova ## Highlights - A supernova (/ˌsuːpərˈnoʊvə/; pl. supernovae /-viː/ or supernovas; abbr. SN and SNe) is a powerful and luminous stellar explosion. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to a neutron star or black hole, or is completely destroyed. The peak optical luminosity of a supernova can be comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks or months.