# The Prelude - Post-Carbon Burning Once carbon fusion is complete, oxygen fuses into silicon, which then fuses into nickel-56. This, however, is unstable, and chromium-52 fuses with a helium atom to create nickel-56, decaying into iron. iron is the atom with the highest binding energy! This is our first type of supernova, and the most popular one! Core collapse supernovae occur when # The internals of the actual supernova --> The core collapses inwards, getting denser and denser. --> core collapse supernovae once a star burns up to iron, it first collapses onto its iron core (implodes) then explodes outwards. # Supernova Types - An Introduction supernova type chart! type 1: minimal hydrogen spectra type 2: hydrogen spectra present ![[Pasted image 20230711134635.png]]