Supernova/Legends

"If we didn't have the right calculations, we'd fly right into a star, or bounce too close to a supernova, and that would end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"

- Han Solo to Luke Skywalker

A supernova occurred when a giant star ceased to fuse light elements into heavier elemental products. The loss of internal heating allowed the star to collapse onto itself to form a neutron star or a black hole. Supernovae could happen naturally or by means of a superweapon-induced self-destruction.

Many systems had been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable after their suns exploded. A supernova had also killed life in neighboring systems, and thus interstellar evacuations had been necessary many times in galactic history. In a placid spiral galaxy the size of the Milky Way or as large as the extent of the Galactic Empire, approximately three supernovae occurred every century. Nonetheless gas and dust within the plane of the galactic disk could limit a supernova's visibility to a few thousand light years.

If a star was massive enough to perish in a supernova explosion, it produced, in its final stages of nuclear fusion, large amounts of heavy elements in its core. The supernova then scattered these elements into the surrounding nebulae.

Known supernovae in the galaxy

 * The supernova in the Kashi system, becoming the Orixon Nebula
 * The supernova created by Primus Goluud
 * The supernova created by Denarii
 * The artificial destruction of the Cron Cluster, caused by the Sith superweapon on the Corsair
 * The supernova that became the Utegetu Nebula
 * The supernova created by Demophon
 * The artificial destruction of Caridan, caused by the Sun Crusher
 * The quintuple supernova in the Cauldron Nebula, caused by the Sun Crusher
 * The artificial destruction of TD-10036-EM-1271, caused by the Centerpoint Station
 * The artificial destruction of Thanta Zilbra, caused by the Centerpoint Station