Why do Supernovae Matter?

    Supernovae are the reason that we exist. In the early universe there was only hydrogen and helium that formed stars. Stars are powered by nuclear fusion, creating heavier elements as their life goes on, creating lithium, iron, and everything in between. When the stars burst into supernovae, they launch all of these new elements in to space, and are able to form the planets that are so abundant today.

    Image taken From https://sites.ualberta.ca
  
  One of the important reasons that aren't as obviously connected to us, is
Type I supernovae offer one of the only opportunities to measure distances around 1000 Mpc (1 Megaparsec is roughly 3.26*10^6 lightyears), while also having an uncertainty of only about 5% over these large distances. Being able to measure this kind of distance has given astrophysicists the ability to conclude that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating.