superkilonova

plural superkilonovae · plural superkilonovas

1. astronomyA type of extended core-collapse supernova event that results in two supernova explosions, beginning with a hydrogen-rich type II supernova followed by an r-process-rich kilonova. The end of the main-fusing life of a large rapidly rotating star, that results in a core collapse explosion, where the extremely rapid rotation fractures the remnant core resulting in the formation of multiple neutron stars in rapidly decaying orbits, that collide and merge in a second explosion, the kilonova, shortly after the first explosion, the supernova.