kilonova
kilonova noun: a type of supernova that is underluminous, caused by the merger of two neutron stars.
Noun
kilonova (plural kilonovas or kilonovae)
- A type of supernova that is underluminous, caused by the merger of two neutron stars
- A radiation pattern typical of a kilonova.
- Moreover, during merger neutron-rich matter can be ejected that can shine as a kilonova due to the decay of r-process elements [2–13].2013 November, V Paschalidis, SL Shapiro, “A new scheme for matching general relativistic ideal magnetohydrodynamics to its force-free limit”, in Physical Review D
- The observed energetics and temporal/spectral properties of the late infrared bump (ie, the "kilonova") are also found to be consistent with emission from the ejecta launched during a neutron star (NS)-NS merger and powered by a magnetar central engine.2013 December, YZ Fan, YW Yu, D Xu, ZP Jin, XF Wu, “A supramassive magnetar central engine for GRB 130603B”, in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, volume 779, number 2
Synonyms of kilonova
Forms of kilonova
| plural | kilonovas |
|---|---|
| plural | kilonovae |
Origin of kilonova
From kilo- + nova. From kilo- (“thousands”). From being much more luminous than a nova, but less so than a typical supernova.
Words formed from kilonova
Questions about kilonova
- What does kilonova mean?
- Kilonova means a type of supernova that is underluminous, caused by the merger of two neutron stars.
- What part of speech is kilonova?
- Kilonova is a noun.
- What is the plural of kilonova?
- The plural of kilonova is kilonovas.
Words near kilonova in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kilonova (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “kilonova.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kilonova. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.