- ...Sun.
- A
survey of SN 1987A results in Science, Vol. 240, Page 754, offered
additional perspective on the neutrino burst. The neutrino luminosity
in the first second was 10**53 erg/sec. Using consensus numbers
for the density of luminous matter and the size of the observable
universe, the luminosity of the entire universe is approximately
5x10**52 erg/sec. Thus, during the explosion the supernova
was brighter than the entire rest of the universe, yet generated all
of its energy in a region about 50 km across. By comparison, if the
Sun shines for another 10 billion years its total energy output over
that entire period will be about 10**51 erg. The supernova released 100
times that energy each second of the collapse.