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It was told that Romulus was devastated into pieces by the nearby star that went supernova.

But what happened to Remus (and the Remans for that matter) or any other minor planets in that system?

From the Star Trek: Countdown comic series, Nero and his crew were mining in the Hobus system at the time the star went supernova.

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According to Memory Alpha the supernova was a nearby star, (but supposedly NOT the star Romulus and Remus orbited). This is never clearly explained or diagrammed so we can understand how this happened. (For this example we will assume it was the Romulan star which went nova to explain potential effects.)

In 2387, a star close to Romulus went supernova, endangering the entire galaxy. Ambassador Spock created a red matter singularity which consumed the star, but not before the supernova reached Romulus, destroying the planet. (Star Trek)

Romulus (and presumably Remus) is destroyed in the supernova.

Romulus (and presumably Remus) is destroyed in the supernova.

Given the explosion was clearly seen to engulf Romulus in a fiery wake, the star had to be relatively close, otherwise, the Romulans would have (and should have) been able to evacuate in a timely fashion.

Normally, any planets within the orbit of a star going supernova are more than likely destroyed in the resulting blast. Remus was the third planet in the Romulan star system so it was likely as destroyed as Romulus was.

In a normal supernova, the energy of the explosion is strong enough to strip away even the dense atmospheres of local gas giants, leaving only their metallic or compressed matter cores. Depending on the size of the star and the distance between the local stars, nearby star systems can be affected by gamma ray and other radiation effects.

During this short interval of a star explosion, a supernova can radiate as much energy as the Sun is expected to emit over its entire life span. The explosion expels much or all of a star's material at a velocity of up to 30,000 km/s (10% of the speed of light), driving a shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium. This shock wave sweeps up an expanding shell of gas and dust called a supernova remnant.

All supernova are not created equal but most will have devastating effects on their local star systems. This can include emissions of gamma ray pulses and other energetic radiations including dangerous cosmic rays. In extreme conditions, the star's collapse could even result in a singularity or black hole.

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    I felt the film was very ambiguous on whether it was Romulus' home star or a nearby one. Given that "typical" (type 1a) Supernova have a range of 20-30 light-years and the amount of devastation, I thought it was the Romulus' star. The life-span and death of stars (even today, let alone in 2387) is understood so well that you'd start evacuating in plenty of time (assuming it was a natural event!).
    – SteB
    Jun 5, 2013 at 7:43
  • @SteB good point. It's not like a red giant would shrink in a matter of days to the point of collapse and explode. Even if it did, you would think the Romulan Empire would evacuate at least the Romulans (since we all know what they thought of Remians). If it explodes a 10% the speed of light, and they have ships that go 10x the speed of light... you would think they could have evacuated most everyone (save undesirables and the Harry S. Trumans that always persist)
    – Jersey
    Jun 5, 2013 at 14:46
  • @Jersey - Even with FTL ships, you'd need a LONG time to evacuate 18 Billion people! I can't believe mine's the only upvote so far.
    – SteB
    Jun 5, 2013 at 15:30
  • my mouse pointer was stuck on the image, hold on...
    – Jared
    Jun 5, 2013 at 21:57
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    Standard JJA storyline. It sounds cool, so who cares if it makes logical sense or obeys the laws of physics.
    – BBlake
    Jun 6, 2013 at 12:14

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