An amateur astronomer tried a new camera and accidentally photographed a supernova

In 2016, an astronomer enthusiast named Victor Buso decided it was time to test the camera on his telescope. When everything was set up, Buso took a photograph of the sky section for the trial and received a photo that will later allow the astronomer to appear in the authoritative journal Nature.

The fact is that Buso managed to photograph the supernova. In principle, he is not the first, but it is still an event that can not be called ordinary. Moreover, his snapshot, or rather, two, are unique, because they capture the very beginning of the appearance of a supernova.

Usually, if an astronomer photographs a supernova, the search begins for a database of images taken by observatories. It is clear, not all pictures in a row, but those on which there is a section of the sky, on which the supernova is fixed. As for the photos of Buso, he managed to get a photo of the place where a supernova appeared, where the star itself was not yet. But in another picture, taken after 45 minutes, she appeared.

Scientists studied images taken by an amateur astronomer and obtained many interesting facts. By the way, supernovae, as Wikipedia tells us, is a phenomenon in which a star dramatically increases its brightness by 4-8 orders of magnitude (10-20 stellar magnitudes), followed by a relatively slow flash attenuation. It is the result of a cataclysmic process that occurs at the end of the evolution of some stars and is accompanied by the release of enormous energy.

An explosion is usually accompanied by the release of a large amount of matter from the outer shell of a star into interstellar space. A neutron star is formed from the remaining part of the substance of the object, if before the explosion the mass of the star was more than 8 times the mass of the Sun, or a black hole, if the star’s mass was more than 20 times the mass of the Sun. During the process of supernova formation, substances and elements containing products of thermonuclear fusion, which occurred throughout the life of the star, are released. Due to this, the Universe and galaxies manage to chemically evolve over time.

Supernovae are a great way to explore outer space. They can tell a lot about what their "parent" stars represented and what their surrounding space represents. Unfortunately, supernovae are less frequently observed, as discussed above. Watching a supernova is just luck for a scientist. Well, to make a series of shots on which the history of the development of a supernova from an ordinary star is fixed is completely rare.



The pictures above show the appearance of a supernova. Before Buso, the young supernova (if the term “young” is applicable to the supernova) succeeded in fixing only once - three hours after its appearance . After sending a telescope into space, Kepler managed to fix several more supernovae. Moreover, it was a case that prevented the observation necessary for the people of the Earth.

The Swift Observatory, when its staff learned about the incident, sent its devices to the part of the sky where the supernova was seen. And in the place of its supposed location, scientists saw a large amount of matter, mostly radioactive isotopes of different elements, which began to heat the nebula that appeared.

As for the properties of the supernova, it was calculated that she had thrown at least 10 ^ 51 erg. At the same time, the substance was thrown away so much that it would be enough for 3.5 Suns. If that star were in the center of the solar system, then its upper edge would reach the orbit of Mars.

Now astronomers are actively studying the pictures provided by Buso, and they are also studying the place where the star, which became a supernova, was located. The knowledge gained will complement the foundation of science.

Nature , 2018. DOI: 10.1038 / nature25151