Nova e o explozie ușoară. Face ca steaua să devină mai mare și mai strălucitoare, și apoi să se reîntoarcă la starea inițială.
Supernova e o explozie puternică, care distruge steaua.
A nova is where some material falls onto the surface of a compact star which makes it 10-100% brighter for a short time - but the star isn't really affected.
A supernova is the end of life of a large star where it runs out of fuel in the core and there is no reaction to support the rest of the star. The entire star collapses and creates more energy in a few minutes than the star generated in the 10bn years of it's life. There is only a small bit of the star left afterward it turns into a neutron star