Quote:
Originally Posted by mithrandir
Think this is right, but stellar physics isn't my strong point.
Supernovas are caused when a large star suffers gravitational collapse after the internal fusion reactions stop producing enough energy to prevent the collapse.
Sun-like stars don't have enough mass to go supernova. They go through a red "giant" phase and finally collapse into a white dwarf.
Now if two of these Sun-like stars collided and merged, the resultant star might be big enough to eventually go supernova, but it wouldn't be the collision that did it. Maybe if they were already white dwarfs before the collision you might get your supernova.
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Yes, in terms of all up mass (2 solar masses) there wouldn't be enough for an evolutionary supernova.
But there must be some immediate effect of the collision.
I was thinking that there would be an enormous amount of added energy due to the momentum of the two colliding stars. Would this act to increase the temperature of the merged stars and cause a blow out of super-heated gases into space?
Regards, Rob.