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pj67coll 09-08-2011 12:31 PM

Supernova in the Big Dipper
 
There is apparently a Supernova that's appeared in the handle of the "Big Dipper". Large binoculars or good sized scope should show it. I tried seeing it last night but it was obscured by streetlights, pollution and clouds. Hopefully I'll have better luck tonight as I saw the last one that occurred 25 years ago when I was still living in South Africa so it'll be cool to see this one as well if I can. Though at Magnitude 10 it looks like I might not be lucky this time around. Pity.

- Peter.

Botnst 09-08-2011 12:58 PM

Cool! (or I should say, Hawt!)

Hopefully somebody will swing Hubble around for snapshot.

MBeige 09-08-2011 01:02 PM

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I might try my 150mm camera lens + 2x adapter (300mm) to see what's up.

pj67coll 09-08-2011 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst (Post 2787024)
Cool! (or I should say, Hawt!)

Hopefully somebody will swing Hubble around for snapshot.

I believe that's already been done.

- Peter.

davidmash 09-08-2011 02:20 PM

If I am understanding this correctly a light year is the distance it takes light to travel in one year. Since this is 21 million light years away, this supernova occurred 21 million years ago?

Hard to wrap your head around numbers like that.

pj67coll 09-08-2011 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmash (Post 2787089)
If I am understanding this correctly a light year is the distance it takes light to travel in one year. Since this is 21 million light years away, this supernova occurred 21 million years ago?

Hard to wrap your head around numbers like that.

Correct. Astronomy is a humbling thing.

- Peter.

tbomachines 09-08-2011 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmash (Post 2787089)
If I am understanding this correctly a light year is the distance it takes light to travel in one year. Since this is 21 million light years away, this supernova occurred 21 million years ago?

Hard to wrap your head around numbers like that.

Yuppers, pretty cool!

MBeige 09-08-2011 11:50 PM

It's cloudy tonight, maybe tomorrow I could get a peek. How long should this last?

davidmash 09-09-2011 12:20 AM

I believe I read peak viewing will be from 9-12 Sep.

pj67coll 09-09-2011 01:37 AM

Well I tried looking for it tonight but no luck despite clear skies. Mag 10 is below naked eye visibility and even with my 4.5 inch scope I couldn't even find the galaxy it's in. I think the light polution is just too much at my house. Might try again next couple of nights though and hope I get lucky.

- Peter.

MBeige 09-11-2011 12:29 AM

Still cloudy tonight. Bummer.

tbomachines 09-11-2011 01:06 PM

Haven't had a clear night here in....probably a few weeks at this point! I'll have to resort to interwebs pictures from hubble and whatnot

rsvp9146 09-13-2011 02:06 PM

Out of curiosity, how does one "see" a black hole?

tbomachines 09-13-2011 02:55 PM

By calculating the gravitational force generated by that point. Since we can see things around it being drawn to it we can calculate those masses by terms of other gravity forces, spectrography, and some other calculations...calculate the speed and centripetal force and voila! Mathematically we can show black holes exist as well, through some serious physics.

rsvp9146 09-13-2011 03:09 PM

yeah, but these guys are talking about seeing it with a pair of binoculars...


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