(Press-News.org) (Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– A supernova discovered Wednesday is closer to Earth ––approximately 21 million light years away –– than any other of its kind in a generation. Astronomers believe they caught the supernova within hours of its explosion –– a rare feat for events of this type.
The discovery of a supernova so early in its life, and so close to Earth has energized the astronomical community. Scientists around the world are scrambling to observe it with as many telescopes as possible, including the Hubble Space Telescope, and telescopes from the UC Santa Barbara-affiliated Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT).
Andy Howell, adjunct professor of physics at UCSB and staff scientist at LCOGT, is one of the leaders of the team that discovered the supernova. Howell said: "We caught this supernova earlier than we've ever discovered a supernova of this type. On Tuesday, it wasn't there. Then, on Wednesday, boom! There it was –– caught within hours of the explosion. As soon as I saw the discovery image I knew we were onto something big."
The supernova, dubbed PTF 11kly, occurred in the Pinwheel Galaxy, located in the "Big Dipper," also known as Ursa Major. It was discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey, which is designed to observe and uncover astronomical events as they happen.
Such supernovae reach the brightness of more than a billion suns in the first three weeks after the explosion, because the process creates energetic radioactive elements that decay and emit light, according to Howell. They normally can't be seen so soon after the explosion because they are too faint. The relative closeness of this event was one factor that led to the unprecedented early observations. The other factor is the use of robotic telescopes. The PTF survey uses automated telescopes to scan the sky nightly and alert observers when something has changed. Robotic telescopes at LCOGT then allow immediate follow-up observations.
LCOGT is building a network of robotic telescopes around the world. The first three are active in Hawaii, Australia, and at the Sedgwick Reserve, near Santa Ynez, Calif. New images of the supernova from Wednesday night –– taken by the Hawaii and Sedgwick telescopes –– showed the supernova had brightened by more than a factor of 20 less than a day after discovery.
"PTF 11kly is getting brighter by the minute," said Peter Nugent, the senior scientist at Berkeley Lab who first spotted the supernova. Nugent is also an adjunct professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley.
"Type Ia supernovae are the kind we use to measure the expansion of the universe. Seeing one explode so close by allows us to study these events in unprecedented detail," said Mark Sullivan, the Oxford University team leader who was among the first to follow up on this detection.
The team put in an urgent request to activate the Hubble Space Telescope on Wednesday. The telescope's schedule is set weeks in advance, but was interrupted to insert regular observations of the new supernova starting Saturday. This will allow the team to probe the physics and chemistry of the explosion.
Catching supernovae so early allows a rare glimpse at the outer layers of the supernova, which contain hints about what kind of star exploded. "When you catch them this early, mixed in with the explosion you can actually see unburned bits from the star that exploded: It is remarkable," said Howell. "We are finding new clues to solving the mystery of the origin of these supernovae that has perplexed us for 70 years. Despite looking at thousands of supernovae, I've never seen anything like this before."
He calls the stars that explode as Type Ia supernovae "zombie" stars because they're dead, with a core of ash, but they come back to life by sucking matter from a companion star. Over the past 50 years, astrophysicists have discovered that Type Ia supernovae are part of binary systems –– two stars orbiting each other. The one that explodes is a white dwarf star. "That's what our sun will be at the end of its life," he said. "It will have the mass of the sun crammed into the size of the Earth."
The relative closeness of this supernova means that even amateur astronomers will be able to see it in the coming weeks. "The best time to see this exploding star will be just after evening twilight in the Northern hemisphere in a week or so," said Sullivan. "You'll need dark skies and a good pair of binoculars, although a small telescope would be even better."
The scientists in the PTF have discovered more than 1,000 supernovae since it started operating in 2008, but they believe this could be their most significant discovery. The last time a supernova of this sort occurred so close to Earth was in 1986, but Nugent notes that it was peculiar and heavily obscured by dust.
"Before that, you'd have to go back to 1972, 1937 and 1572 to find more nearby Type Ia supernovae," said Nugent. "Observing PTF 11kly unfold should be a wild ride. It is an instant cosmic classic."
"Back then we didn't have modern instruments," noted Howell. "Now we have digital cameras, robotic telescopes, and all kinds of orbiting satellites that can see in x-rays, the ultraviolet, and visible light. We're going to have a field day."
INFORMATION:
UCSB scientists, telescopes help discover 'once in a generation' supernova
2011-08-27
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Results of medication studies in top medical journals may be misleading to readers
2011-08-27
Studies about medications published in the most influential medical journals are frequently designed in a way that yields misleading or confusing results, new research suggests.
Investigators from the medical schools at UCLA and Harvard analyzed all the randomized medication trials published in the six highest-impact general medicine journals between June 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2010, to determine the prevalence of three types of outcome measures that make data interpretation difficult.
In addition, they reviewed each study's abstract to determine the percentage ...
TeamLab Mobile: Project Management Goes on Air in Android and iOS Environment
2011-08-27
Ascensio System SIA, the developer of IT solutions for corporate use, launches a fully-featured mobile version of the Projects section that is a constituent of the TeamLab platform for project management and team collaboration. From now on, the TeamLab users gain a virtual analogue of their office activities.
The mobile Projects module incorporates a complete set of tools to control and participate in projects outside office: both team leaders and teammates view projects, create and leave status comments on tasks, initiate and manage milestones, take part in discussions ...
Child-care facilities can do more to promote healthy eating and physical activity among preschoolers
2011-08-27
Philadelphia, PA, August 26, 2011 – Eating and physical activity habits for a lifetime can develop at an early age. As the use of preschool child care increases and the prevalence of childhood obesity is at an all-time high, the opportunity to positively impact eating and exercise habits within this setting presents itself. A review in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association describes and evaluates research addressing opportunities and strategies for the prevention of obesity among preschool children in child-care settings. It examines ...
Texas Divorces: Children Can Grow During Divorce
2011-08-27
Divorce is not easy on anyone. When two partners decide to part ways, the painful divide affects more than just the two spouses. Multiple lives are clearly impacted. Children of divorcing parents are also confronted with strong emotions and abrupt changes in lifestyle. Certainly, their lives often become tumultuous, for an adjustment period, anyways. While their world suddenly looks different, there is good news.
It is true that divorce may be challenging, difficult and even painful for children of all ages, but they truly can survive their parent's divorce. In fact, ...
The atomic clock with the world's best long-term accuracy is revealed after evaluation
2011-08-27
A caesium fountain clock that keeps the United Kingdom's atomic time is now the most accurate long-term timekeeper in the world, according to a new evaluation of the clock that will be published in the October 2011 issue of the international scientific journal Metrologia by a team of physicists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom and Penn State University in the United States. An early posting of the paper on the journal's online site will occur on 26 August 2011.
The clock is one of an elite group of caesium fountain clocks that have been ...
Texas Marital Fraud: How to Tell If Your Spouse is Hiding Assets
2011-08-27
Unfortunately, divorce often brings out the less seemly side of those people we once loved. Rather than an amicable parting of the ways, divorces can easily become a race to grab any and all assets available. This creates an unfair advantage when one spouse has handled all or most of the finances during the marriage. Still, an experienced Houston divorce attorney can help you to uncover hidden assets your soon-to-be-ex may be hiding.
If you think your spouse may be hiding money and/or assets from you, Forbes Magazine offers a list of five warning signs you should be ...
Naming Beneficiaries in Estate Planning Documents
2011-08-27
Assets with beneficiary forms seem appealing to people trying to set up estate plans. Such assets have the benefit of going directly to the heirs and avoiding the lengthy and sometimes costly probate process. However, people need to make sure that they coordinate their named beneficiary assets with the rest of their estate planning documents such as wills and trusts. Otherwise people may inadvertently sabotage their own plans for their possessions after they die because such forms override wills -- wills do not override beneficiary designations. Those making estate plans ...
Protein in the urine spells kidney failure for African-Americans
2011-08-27
Washington, DC (August 26, 2011) — African Americans are four times more likely to develop kidney failure than whites. A new study has found that a condition that occurs when the kidneys are damaged and spill protein into the urine contributes to this increased risk.
The study, conducted by William McClellan, MD of Emory University and his colleagues, appears in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN), a publication of the American Society of Nephrology.
The investigators analyzed information from 27,911 individuals (40.5% of whom ...
Single parents and gay couples face rental housing discrimination: UBC study
2011-08-27
A new University of British Columbia study finds single parents and male gay couples face significant discrimination in the Metro Vancouver rental housing market, compared to straight couples.
Overall, the study finds that same-sex male couples are nearly 25 per cent more likely to be rejected by landlords seeking renters, while single parents are approximately 15 per cent more likely to be rejected.
The research, published in the August issue of the journal Social Problems, is the largest investigation of housing discrimination towards single parents, and the first ...
Keeping Estate Plans Current
2011-08-27
No one really likes to contemplate his or her own mortality, but traditional wisdom teaches that a little planning during life makes things a lot easier on surviving loved ones after death -- which is why it is prudent to make a will. However, many believe that once they have accomplished that task they need never think about it again. The truth is that a person needs to revisit his or her estate plan periodically to ensure that it remains current and accurately expresses his or her wishes, especially after major life events such as marriage, divorce, births, deaths, moves, ...