The picture above is an artist rendition of a star that has gone supernova. In the simplest sense, a supernova is a star that explodes causing some of it's mass to be shot out into space. Supernovas are some of the most energetic events in the entire Universe, and the explosions can sometimes be so powerful that they generate a black hole in the center of the dying star. Not all stars will turn into supernovas at the end of their lives. Small stars, about 7 times the size our Sun or less, turn into Red Giants at the end of their lives fizzle out into space leaving only a small core of mostly carbon. That small core is called a white dwarf. However, stars more than 8 times the mass of our Sun die in huge, violent explosions, and the remnants they leave behind are much more exotic. Stranger, even, than giant space diamonds.