A supernova is a violent stellar explosion that destroys a star, while ejecting the products of nuclear burning into the gas between stars. This image of a supernova, 20 million light years away from Earth, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. At its brightest, the supernova was about 100 million times brighter than the Sun. The material that makes up the Sun, the Earth, and our bodies was once inside stars that exploded long before the solar system was formed.
