Waspie_Dwarf Posted February 25, 2017 #1 Share Posted February 25, 2017 The Dawn of a New Era for Supernova 1987a Quote Three decades ago, astronomers spotted one of the brightest exploding stars in more than 400 years. The titanic supernova, called Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A), blazed with the power of 100 million suns for several months following its discovery on Feb. 23, 1987. Since that first sighting, SN 1987A has continued to fascinate astronomers with its spectacular light show. Located in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, it is the nearest supernova explosion observed in hundreds of years and the best opportunity yet for astronomers to study the phases before, during, and after the death of a star. Read More: NASA 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codenwarra Posted February 26, 2017 #2 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I naked eye observed SN1987A from about 2km south of the Tropic of Capricorn on 1987, it looked like an ordinary bright star. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taniwha Posted February 26, 2017 #3 Share Posted February 26, 2017 1 hour ago, Codenwarra said: I naked eye observed SN1987A from about 2km south of the Tropic of Capricorn on 1987, it looked like an ordinary bright star. That's cool. I naked eyed it as well in central south island of NZ. If I remember right it was first discovered by an astronomer in NZ. I saw it the night after it was announced and from here it looked more like a bright fuzzy smear of a star gradually dimming out with the passing years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted February 26, 2017 Author #4 Share Posted February 26, 2017 22 minutes ago, taniwha said: If I remember right it was first discovered by an astronomer in NZ. Sort of. Quote SN 1987A was discovered by Ian Shelton and Oscar Duhalde at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile on February 24, 1987, and within the same 24 hours independently by Albert Jones in New Zealand. Source: Wikipedia So a New Zealander is jointly credited with the discovery, but he wasn't actually the first to discover it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolguy Posted February 27, 2017 #5 Share Posted February 27, 2017 I wish i could see this with the naked eye from ny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now