Question

For the white dwarf supernova, the luminosity 175 days after it reaches peak brightness is about __________ of the luminosity at peak brightness.

Answer 1

The luminosity 175 days after it reaches peak brightness is about 1%. The peak brightness of the white dwarf is 10^10 solar units and after 175 days it is about 10^8 solar units. By performing division (10^8 /10^10 =0.01) we see that the peak luminosity after 175 days is reduced by 1% making the answer d or 1%.