Supernovas and Marvin the Martian

Eta Carinae, one of the best candidates for going supernova in our lifetimes - assuming we understand the physics of the system, which we don't. [Credit:  NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team]Supernovas are some of the most violent phenomena in the cosmos, but we’re in no immediate danger from one. However, astronomers would really really really like one to go off relatively nearby during our lifetimes, since we would learn a lot from observing one. My latest piece at Ars Technica is a gallery showing some of the more interesting supernova candidates in our galaxy, including a few that might possibly go kaboom while I’m still around to see it happen.