Extreme Explosions

When a massive star reaches the end of its life, what follows? Astronomers once assumed that such stars all moved through roughly the same sequence of changes. Recent discoveries suggest the process is far more varied than that.

The book concentrates on the most extreme explosions in the sky: the most intense, the most dazzling, and the strangest. Among its subjects are newly observed events of major importance to astronomy and astrophysics, some of which had until recently existed only as theoretical predictions.

It is intended for readers who want the latest findings on the most dramatic and unusual explosions uncovered by modern supernova surveys. The cataclysmic and atypical events of stellar astrophysics are explained in detail without mathematics, so that non-specialists can follow and enjoy them.