29/08/2011, 10:19
29/08/2011, 10:40
AUGUST 25, 2011: Berkeley Scientists Discover an “Instant Cosmic Classic” Supernova
Supercomputing, fast networks key to early discovery of explosion
These images show Type Ia supernova PTF 11kly, the youngest ever detected—over the past three nights. The left image taken on August 22 shows the event before it exploded supernova, approximately 1 million times fainter than the human eye can detect. The center image taken on August 23 shows the supernova at about 10,000 times fainter than the human eye can detect. The right image taken on August 24 shows that the event is 6 times brighter than the previous day. In two weeks time it should be visible with a good pair of binoculars.
A supernova discovered yesterday 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 made possible with a specialized survey telescope and state-of-the-art computational tools.
The finding of such a supernova so early and so close has energized the astronomical community as they are scrambling to observe it with as many telescopes as possible, including the Hubble Space Telescope.
Joshua Bloom, assistant professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, called it “the supernova of a generation.” Astronomers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley, who made the discovery predict that it will be a target for research for the next decade, making it one of the most-studied supernova in history.
READ MORE
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stori ... supernova/
Lick/Kast Spectroscopy Confirms PTF11kly is a Type Ia Supernova
ATel #3583; S. B. Cenko (UC Berkeley), R. C. Thomas, P. E. Nugent (LBNL), M. Kandrashoff, A. V. Filippenko, and J. M. Silverman (UC Berkeley) report on behalf of a larger collaboration:
on 25 Aug 2011; 09:47 UT
Credential Certification: S. Bradley Cenko (cenko@astro.berkeley.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient
Referred to by ATel #: 3584
We have obtained a low-resolution spectrum of the supernova PTF11kly in the nearby galaxy M101 (ATEL #3581) with the Kast spectrograph mounted on the 3 m Shane telescope at Lick Observatory. The spectrum was obtained on Aug 25.17 and covers the wavelength range from 3500-10000 A. We confirm the preliminary classification as a young type Ia SN based on the detection of broad, blueshifted Si II and Ca II absorption lines, as well as a lack of Balmer features (either in emission or absorption). After correcting for a host galaxy recession velocity of 241 km/s, we find that the minimum of the Si II 6355 line is blueshifted by ~ 16500 km/s. C II 6580 and (possibly) 7234 are also detected with slightly lower (~ 14500 km/s) relative velocities.
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=3583
SN 2011fe (originariamente indicata come PTF 11kly) è una supernova di tipo Ia esplosa nella Galassia Girandola (M101), ad una distanza di circa 21 milioni di anni luce dalla Terra.
Scoperta poco prima che la stella progenitrice, una nana bianca, andasse incontro all'esplosione dal rilevamento Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) del 22 agosto 2011, è la più giovane supernova di tipo Ia mai individuata.
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_2011fe
29/08/2011, 11:36
02/09/2011, 13:19
23/03/2015, 17:33