A Serendipitous Discovery “We were at the right place,
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A Serendipitous Discovery
“We were at the right place, at the right time, with the right telescope,
and witnessed history...”
For the very first time we caught
a star in the act of explodingX-ray
Outburst!
Image courtesy of Princeton, Gemini Observatories, and NASA
Crab nebula, SN 1054
Historically, Supernova Discoveries are Visual
Ancient supernova DiscoveryChaco Canyon, NM
SN 1054
SN1994D, Image courtesy of Challis, Harvard-CfA
Image courtesy of NASA
Amateur Astronomers
A supernova shines as bright as a one billion Suns
But only one supernova every century
supernova
Historical Method
Revolutionizing the Discovery + Study of SupernovaeVi
sual
Lig
ht
DiscoveryTime
Visual discovery ➔ DELAY (weeks!) between explosion and discovery
By then, most of the fireworks are over...
Long-predicted,but never yet seen“break out” light
(Colgate, 1974)• exactly at the time of explosion• 1000 x brighter than visual light• lasts just seconds to minutes• only visible in the X-rays
extremely difficult to detect !
(Image courtesy of Dana Berry)
Caught in the Act - The Birth of Supernova
2008D
X-ray Visual
Swift satellite
(Image courtesy of NASA)
Alicia Soderberg
An X-ray outburst appeared in my Swift data from Jan 9 brighter than 100 billion Suns.
Alert the community, steer telescopesThe outburst signaled the birth of a new
supernova
Two supernova in the same galaxy?Chance probability : 1 in 10,000 (very
lucky)
The Future is BrightEVERY massive star supernova produces
an X-ray outburst
Future X-ray telescopes will find hundreds of supernovae each year
“Time stamp” provided by X-rayscrucial for neutrino & gravitational wave
searches
X-rayOutburst!
Image courtesy of Princeton, Gemini Observatories, and NASA
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