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32 Comments
- xixphz, on 06/11/2009, -1/+26We shall call it a meh-nova.
- DaFox, on 06/12/2009, -0/+12How about mininova?
***** THE RIAA - rusty0101, on 06/12/2009, -0/+8Amateur astronomers are very much the fundamental discovers of much of astronomy. Billion dollar equipment very often has extremely narrow fields of view, and very exciting events may be happening just outside of the field of view that such equipment will never detect on it's own. Talk to your local amateur astronomy club. You might be surprised at what amateurs are doing that then leads to fundamental discoveries in cosmology. (not cosmetology, that's a hairy problem in it's own right.)
- mitrovarr, on 06/12/2009, -0/+7This isn't the casual, almost accidental discovery by a beginner that the article makes it out to be. Supernovae in remote galaxies are moderately difficult targets for observation by the amateur - you can do it, but it takes dark skies and a fairly serious telescope (probably starting at about 8-10" in aperture.) Searching for new supernovae is even harder and generally involves even larger scopes, complex mounts, CCD imaging systems, computers, and a lot of skill. It really starts to bridge the gap between the very advance amateur and the small-time professional - serious amateur instruments can actually rival small research observatories, such as a small university might own.
Caroline was actually part of an organization that searched for supernovae, the Puckett Observatory Supernova Search Team. They have access to several small observatory-grade instruments and imaging gear, and were searching methodically (in fact they've discovered over a hundred supernovae already.) In a way this almost makes it more of an achievement - this required months of careful data examination, pretty much the same way as a professional astronomer would do it. However, it isn't like some kid just pointed some little refractor from the department store at the sky and happened to make a great discovery. - Dumbledorito, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4I heard some group of UK amateur astronomers discovered a Champagne Supernova not too long ago.
- deff, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4A champagne supernova in the sky?
- Lane, on 06/12/2009, -0/+21000X more powerful huh? guess well be seeing these things referenced in every scifi show now.
- rusty0101, on 06/12/2009, -0/+2Most metropolitan light pollution is light emitted by sodium vapor and mercury vapor lights. These are fairly narrow light spectrum sources that can be filtered out with reasonably inexpensive filters for many telescopes. While you may not be able to see something like this from the Empire State building with your bare eyes, and even with good filters that's not the optimal location to be viewing from, what this amateur astronomer did is very possible.
- sockpuppets, on 06/12/2009, -2/+4minonova.
- mejf2loy, on 06/12/2009, -0/+2I got quasar fuzz all over me when I read that...
- kelmaster1, on 06/12/2009, -0/+2old-school
- sh0rtstop00, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1I'm arguing the choice of comparison used in the article.Instead of going a little more scientific, they used "xx million times brighter than the sun," it's useless because no body can even begin to picture that in their head. It could use a little more scientific proof of how bright it is.. You wouldn't say my HDTV's darkest black is darker than the Black Holes.
- CoD4, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1that's what she said
- sybont, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1"making her the youngest person ever to do so" I remember the first time I discovered a supernova, too bad I was 15 at the time.
- samk, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1upstate New York can be quite rural.
- uguysmakemesick, on 06/12/2009, -1/+2I make it a point never to turn my head unless I expect to see something.
- GorfTron, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1And a caviar planet in the pie?
- teamgwho, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1Rather then being 1000 times more powerful, I'd rather they figure a way to keep the body from rusting.
/misses my old Nova - BmanCO, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1Yeah, I was wondering about that. I didn't think that a random teenager with an amateur telescope would have the resources or knowledge to identify a supernova.
- thealliedhacker, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1mininova
(stolen from above) - Smegzor, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1I call shenanigans. The only stars in New York are on the ground.
- sartorious, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1Supernova goes pop.
- TheTikiTony, on 06/12/2009, -0/+0You have a very limited knowledge of astronomy then. There are many things out there that emit numbers of light radiation I couldn't even commit to memory they're so large. The sun is small, the Earth is smaller, we're nothing. Have a good day! :)
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -1/+1Thats not true because Jesus wasn`t born then.
/***** - mrogi, on 06/12/2009, -0/+0How can a child find a supernova that government funded astronomers with billion dollar equipment completely missed? I think my tax money is being misspent.
- redfox2600, on 06/12/2009, -2/+1Did anyone read the title thought of suprnova?
- Kumah, on 06/12/2009, -1/+1I first thought this article said "Peculiar, Junior-Sized Supernova Discovered IN New York Teen"
I was ***** excited. - jemka, on 06/12/2009, -1/+1AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
- mejf2loy, on 06/12/2009, -0/+0dugg for being called "spacefellowship"
- Halindir, on 06/12/2009, -0/+0AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
- marytormey, on 06/12/2009, -1/+1That sounds unlikely, New York has a lot of light pollution.
- sh0rtstop00, on 06/12/2009, -3/+1how do they know this wasn't 25.1 million times brighter than the sun? i cant even imagine 10x more brighter than the sun, 25 million times is just science fiction
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