!8: Amatuer Astronomy Right Now: December 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A 10 year old babe is the youngest being to ascertain a Supernova -- (News Story)

!±8± A 10 year old babe is the youngest being to ascertain a Supernova -- (News Story)

youngest person to discover a supernova A precocious 10-year-old amateur astronomer the youngest person ever to have detected the stellar explosion known as a supernova may have only appeared as a tiny, glowing spot hovering over a distant galaxy, but it was a sight to see. Kathryn Aurora Gray of Fredericton, New Brunswick in Canada discovered the supernova explosion in a galaxy, called UGC 3378, within the faint constellation of Camelopardalis. The galaxy is approximately 240 million light-years away. Gray made the discovery on Jan. 2 using images that were taken of galaxy UGC 3378 on New Year's Eve. The supernova was then verified by Illinois-based amateur astronomer Brian Tieman and Arizona-based amateur astronomer Jack Newton, who then reported it to the International Astronomical Union's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Gray reported the stellar explosion under the supervision of her father, Paul Gray, who has made six prior supernova discoveries, and family friend David Lane, who has found three others himself. The photos of galaxy UGC 3378 were taken using a telescope belonging to Lane. Supernovas are powerful and violent explosions that signal the deaths of stars several times more massive than our sun. These cosmic blasts are interesting to astronomers because they manufacture most of the chemical elements that went into creating the Earth and other planets. Distant supernovas can also be used to estimate the size and age of our universe. The last ...