Exploding star can be seen from earth within 2 weeks!!

Normally exploding stars, or supernova's are detected by astronomers using electronic sensors, so seeing one, and being able to see it with a pair of binoculars is something very special indeed!

This will only be visible in the Northern Hemisphere, so it sucks for me!!
You guys will still need some dark skies and a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope to see it, but at least you will be able to see it.

The cosmic event, observed by Oxford scientists and American colleagues, is one of the closest stellar explosions to Earth since 1987, and is the nearest example of its type to be seen from Earth in 40 years.

The rare "type 1a" supernova – an event where a star explodes, then sucks up the energy from another nearby star and is reborn – happened in the Pinwheel Galaxy, located in the Great Bear constellation.

Seems like Nasa is also much interested in this, according to this:

The supernova, dubbed PTF11kly, is close enough that astronomers will be able to study it in unprecedented detail, and Nasa announced it would tear up the Hubble telescope's work schedule to study the phenomenon from Saturday.

Article

Hope someone on here gets to see this!! Good luck.

vvv

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


Vree, Dude, this is freakin AWESOME! I live in Cali and have reasonably low light pollution or can get out to dark skies in about five minutes. I cant wait! I will definitely let my boys see this once in a lifetime event. Hopefully no gamma ray bursts are pointed in our direction, although it would be over pretty quick if that did occur.

Thank you for bringing this to all of us Space Junkies here on ATS!

How do they know it's going to explode so far ahead of time?

I mean, is the star swelling or collapsing or something? How can they be so sure that the indicators are that precise, that they can predict a super nova 2 weeks ahead of time?

I'm sure the answer is amazing.

reply to post by Springheel Jack


No worries mate, i thought someone might find this interesting!! Glad i could help, and still a bit miffed i can't see it!!

vvv

Why are they preparing Hubble to view it soon when I assume they would have had to have used Hubble to find it?

Do we have better telescopes elsewhere? If so then why is it important that we use Hubble?

And why do I ask so many damn questions!?

Sweet, thanks for letting us know! I'll be sitting on top a hill with a pair of binoculars waiting for this puppy to explode! I love all these types of anomalies in the sky, but hardly ever get to witness them live. This time I'm on holiday, so I have the time.. perhaps I'll crack open a few beers

Originally posted by Cryptonomicon
How do they know it's going to explode so far ahead of time?

I mean, is the star swelling or collapsing or something? How can they be so sure that the indicators are that precise, that they can predict a super nova 2 weeks ahead of time?

I'm sure the answer is amazing.

Mate, read the article please.

It allready happenned, it just takes some time for us to see it..........

vvv

reply to post by Cryptonomicon

It is not a prediction of a supernova. The thread title should read "Exploding star can be seen from earth for 2 weeks".

The supernova occurred in a galaxy 21 million light years away. It took 21 million years for the the light from it to arrive at Earth a couple of days ago. The light will continue to arrive for a while. But, as the article points out, it's not really going to be noticeable.

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


Yeah I understand, I always get jealous of Southerners like yourself when you get to see an eclipse while us Yanks just get to hear how cool it is....

Hey, but on the brightside , you get to see Nibiru!

reply to post by Springheel Jack


Haahahahahah, yeah Nibiru!!

LMAO, I am more likely to see a flying elephant down here in South Africa than Nibiru mate. lol

vvv

hmmm.....so this is the smoke screen to comet elenin aye....nice try!!

I think is quite fascinating, to think 21 million years this event unfolded and we are only seeing it now. Our lifespans are so fleeting.

...and this www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


WoW this is awesome news.
I bet the scientists at the LHC will be waiting for the arrival of neutrinos

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by Cryptonomicon

 

It is not a prediction of a supernova. The thread title should read "Exploding star can be seen from earth for 2 weeks".

The supernova occurred in a galaxy 21 million light years away. It took 21 million years for the the light from it to arrive at Earth a couple of days ago. The light will continue to arrive for a while. But, as the article points out, it's not really going to be noticeable.

edit on 8/27/2011 by Phage because: (no reason given)

The distance is absolutely mind boggling 21 million light years away. Well the distance that light travels in one year is 10 Trillion 10,000000000000 Kilometres en.wikipedia.org... so that has to be multiplied by 21,000,000 resulting in a huge number of Kilometres that I have no idea how to represent here.

I'm currently watching a slide show that I think is really important to what's happening in space at this very moment in time. It's 2 and a half hours long though so I suggest sitting comfy with a coffee/tea/Jack Daniels whatever

collegerama.tudelft.nl...

Here is a picture of it. Not sure if it's the first pic but certainly one of the first.
Taken from New Mexico. It is a nice bright one.

Link.

Originally posted by tarifa37

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by Cryptonomicon

 

It is not a prediction of a supernova. The thread title should read "Exploding star can be seen from earth for 2 weeks".

The supernova occurred in a galaxy 21 million light years away. It took 21 million years for the the light from it to arrive at Earth a couple of days ago. The light will continue to arrive for a while. But, as the article points out, it's not really going to be noticeable.

edit on 8/27/2011 by Phage because: (no reason given)

The distance is absolutely mind boggling

21 million light years away. Well the distance that light travels in one year is 10 Trillion 10,000000000000 Kilometres en.wikipedia.org... so that has to be multiplied by 21,000,000 resulting in a huge number of Kilometres that I have no idea how to represent here.

That's interstellar space for ya. It's beyond vast. Nearly incomprehensible. Thank goodness for scientific notation!

For astronomers...

Type Ia supernova PTF11kly at RA=14:03:05.81, Dec=+54:16:25.4 (J2000) in the host galaxy M101

If I managed to get hold of a small telescope, what exactly could I expect to see?

I've no experience of astronomy but I'm sure a friend of mine has a telescope and would be there to set it up, but if all I'm going to see is a slightly brighter than usual star then it wouldn't feel worth the hassle

Kyle

Yup, that inst gunna be visible. yuor going to needa t least an 8 inch refelctor with skyglow filter ( fitlers out ligth pollution), and maybe a O III filter. prob need a good 4 inch refractor..expensive* yuo could try a 5 inch muskatov cassegrain. or a serious aperature of power binoculars..20x 50 or something.