MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

It’s been an interesting week for America.  The strongest earthquake in 40 years shakes the midwest, the strongest earthquake in over 100 years — and perhaps in central Virginia’s history — strikes the eastern seaboard, and hurricane Irene is poised to become the strongest hurricanes to hit the northeast in decades with 2011 itself becoming the worst year for tornadoes in America in over 60 years.   And as for the world itself, this year is already being dubbed ‘The Year of Catastrophes‘ …

By Emma Woollacott – “Berkeley scientists this week discovered a new supernova, closer to Earth than any seen in the last 40 years, and believe they’ve spotted it within hours of its explosion.

Astronomers are now scrambling to observe it with as many telescopes as possible, including the Hubble Space Telescope, and it’s likely to remain a major target for research for the next decade or more.

Dubbed PTF 11kly, the supernova is about 21 million light-years away in the Pinwheel Galaxy, in the Ursa Major constellation. It was discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey, which uses a robotic telescope mounted on the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope to scan the sky nightly.

‘We caught this supernova very soon after explosion. PTF 11kly is getting brighter by the minute. It’s already 20 times brighter than it was yesterday,’ says Peter Nugent, the senior scientist at Berkeley Lab who first spotted it.

‘Observing PTF 11kly unfold should be a wild ride. It is an instant cosmic classic.’

Within 12 hours of its discovery, PTF 11kly had been observed by other telescopes around the globe, and it was found tobelong to the Type Ia category. Indeed, this is the earliest spectrum ever taken of a Type Ia supernova.

‘Type Ia supernova 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,’ says Mark Sullivan of Oxford University, one of the first to follow up on the discovery.

The Hubble Space Telescope will begin studying the supernova’s chemistry and physics this weekend.” Read more.

UCSB Scientists, Telescopes Help Discover ‘Once in a Generation’ Supernova – “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).” Read more.