A Serendipitous Discovery “We were at the right place,
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Transcript of 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
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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
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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)
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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)
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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