File:Crab_Nebula.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
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Encyclopedic overview
SN 1054 remnant (Crab Nebula). A supernova remnant (SNR) is the structure resulting from the explosion of a star in a supernova. The supernova remnant is bounded by an expanding shock wave. It consists of ejected material expanding from the explosion, and the interstellar material it sweeps up and shocks along the way.
There are two common routes to a supernova: either a massive star may run out of fuel, ceasing to generate fusion energy in its core, and collapsing inward under the force of its own gravity to form a neutron star or a black hole; or a white dwarf star may accrete material from a companion star until it reaches a critical mass and undergoes a carbon detonation.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “supernova remnant” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.