SUPERNOVA! ©2023 Pinwheel Galaxy
May 24, 2023 4:15 PM Subscribe
The closest and brightest supernova in a decade is ON. In the outer reaches of the Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101), 21-million light-years from here (practically next door), a type II supernova has been spotted within the past week. It's viewable here on Earth via backyard-strength telescopes; but, tomorrow (Thursday, May 25, 2023) at 6PM EST (22:00 UTC), virtualtelescope.eu will be zooming in on the classic galaxy via their youtube livestream channel, inviting you to peek into the distant past at this growing dot that's unimaginably large, bright, and far away.
The Moderators™ have been summoned, and shall right everything so that nothing. ever. happened.
posted by not_on_display at 4:36 PM on May 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 4:36 PM on May 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
there it is.
posted by clavdivs at 4:36 PM on May 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 4:36 PM on May 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
time to get a new watch
posted by not_on_display at 4:42 PM on May 24, 2023
posted by not_on_display at 4:42 PM on May 24, 2023
It’s a Super Duper Nova; don’t doubt it’s power.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:49 PM on May 24, 2023
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:49 PM on May 24, 2023
I mean, really, you can’t stay too far away from those things.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:50 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:50 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
I see that Astrobackyard already has a video up about a very timely visit they were making to a star party near a big telescope.
posted by clawsoon at 4:53 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by clawsoon at 4:53 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Anton Petrov says that JWST has already taken a bunch of pictures of the Pinwheel Galaxy. Is this the kind of thing where they'd say, "Cancel whatever else was on the JWST schedule, we're taking some pictures of this", or would that not be a thing?
posted by clawsoon at 5:20 PM on May 24, 2023
posted by clawsoon at 5:20 PM on May 24, 2023
That’s a hell of a supernova, to distort time here, 21-million light years away!
Old news, dude. You want me to get excited about something that happened 21 million years ago on a Wednesday? Sheesh.
posted by clawsoon at 5:23 PM on May 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
Old news, dude. You want me to get excited about something that happened 21 million years ago on a Wednesday? Sheesh.
posted by clawsoon at 5:23 PM on May 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
probably a neutron star by now.
posted by clavdivs at 5:29 PM on May 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 5:29 PM on May 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Space telescopes (and pretty much all big telescopes) have a certain number of hours allocated for pointing at cool unexpected things, like a supernova. I am quite certain that JWST is going to take some great images of this one.
posted by rockindata at 5:34 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by rockindata at 5:34 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
The term of art for this reserved time is “Director’s Discretionary Time.” Here is the 10.5 hours that were used for this particular event.
posted by rockindata at 5:40 PM on May 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by rockindata at 5:40 PM on May 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
There are actually a number of DD applications for this supernova, and a bunch of other cool stuff.
posted by rockindata at 5:47 PM on May 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by rockindata at 5:47 PM on May 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have to imagine that Directors live for this kind of shit. Like, I'm sure that there's always a bunch of politics on who gets the discretionary time under normal circumstances, but when one of these things comes across your desk, the decision is easy.
posted by notoriety public at 5:48 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by notoriety public at 5:48 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
If you want a fun and comforting thought: if this was closer or oriented differently and included a massive gamma ray or neutron burst component we could all be suddenly dying of cosmic space radiation right now without any warning and there's not a damn thing we could really do about it.
I mean, sure, you could try to hide from high energy cosmic gamma rays under a whole lot of water or a very large and thick lead or depleted uranium box or shelter, but there's no hiding from neutrinos since they can blast right through entire planets and/or galaxies and there's likely at least one passing through your body right now, if not an uncountable amount of them.
Why yes, I have had existential space dread ever since I was a small child and space nut, why do you ask?
posted by loquacious at 6:11 PM on May 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
I mean, sure, you could try to hide from high energy cosmic gamma rays under a whole lot of water or a very large and thick lead or depleted uranium box or shelter, but there's no hiding from neutrinos since they can blast right through entire planets and/or galaxies and there's likely at least one passing through your body right now, if not an uncountable amount of them.
Why yes, I have had existential space dread ever since I was a small child and space nut, why do you ask?
posted by loquacious at 6:11 PM on May 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
Tiger, tiger, burning bright/In the forests of the night (or: can/how do you survive a supernova?)
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:25 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:25 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Supernova neutrios are lethal at 2 AU roughly.
If we die to supernova neutrios, it won't have a huge impact on our life expectancy.
posted by NotAYakk at 7:52 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
If we die to supernova neutrios, it won't have a huge impact on our life expectancy.
posted by NotAYakk at 7:52 PM on May 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Tiger, tiger, burning bright/In the forests of the night
Fascinating discussion, thanks for the link.
Question: One of the answers in that discussion mentions the Supernova Early Warning System, which detects the neutrinos from a supernova before the light gets here. Why didn't that happen in this case, where an amateur astronomer using visible light found it first? Are we just too far away for the early neutrino signal to be detectable, or was somebody sleeping on the job?
posted by clawsoon at 8:22 PM on May 24, 2023
Fascinating discussion, thanks for the link.
Question: One of the answers in that discussion mentions the Supernova Early Warning System, which detects the neutrinos from a supernova before the light gets here. Why didn't that happen in this case, where an amateur astronomer using visible light found it first? Are we just too far away for the early neutrino signal to be detectable, or was somebody sleeping on the job?
posted by clawsoon at 8:22 PM on May 24, 2023
o shit i think i was in the can when the neurtio thingie alarm sounded
posted by not_on_display at 11:02 PM on May 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 11:02 PM on May 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
Oh! I didn't miss it. It's Thursday, not Wednesday.
posted by Miss Cellania at 1:45 AM on May 25, 2023
posted by Miss Cellania at 1:45 AM on May 25, 2023
> space nut
Well yes, that's what we all are, although Carl Sagan said it more prosaically as "star stuff."
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:06 AM on May 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well yes, that's what we all are, although Carl Sagan said it more prosaically as "star stuff."
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:06 AM on May 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
> Oh! I didn't miss it. It's Thursday, not Wednesday.
YES it is today, Thursday May 25. 6PM Eastern. I totally messed up the day & date when I originally posted the FPP; it was only half-fixed by The Moderation Team™. (I mess things up like this 1% of the time—days & dates enter into my job, but of course I get confused by them.)
posted by not_on_display at 5:57 AM on May 25, 2023
YES it is today, Thursday May 25. 6PM Eastern. I totally messed up the day & date when I originally posted the FPP; it was only half-fixed by The Moderation Team™. (I mess things up like this 1% of the time—days & dates enter into my job, but of course I get confused by them.)
posted by not_on_display at 5:57 AM on May 25, 2023
That Tiger discussion was amazing, ty for the link. Let me in turn link What if: How close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation?
"Applying the physicist rule of thumb suggests that the supernova is brighter [at the distance of the sun than a hydrogen bomb detonated pressed against your eye ball - ed.] . And indeed, it is ... by nine orders of magnitude."
But don't worry, at 1 parsec it's less radiation damage from neutrinos than from eating a banana.
Cleaning up your house or getting onto a street are probably nine orders of magnitude more dangerous than any super nova exploding in the night sky.
posted by esoteric cruelties at 6:06 AM on May 25, 2023
"Applying the physicist rule of thumb suggests that the supernova is brighter [at the distance of the sun than a hydrogen bomb detonated pressed against your eye ball - ed.] . And indeed, it is ... by nine orders of magnitude."
But don't worry, at 1 parsec it's less radiation damage from neutrinos than from eating a banana.
Cleaning up your house or getting onto a street are probably nine orders of magnitude more dangerous than any super nova exploding in the night sky.
posted by esoteric cruelties at 6:06 AM on May 25, 2023
I took the battery out of my neutrino detector, it was making too much noise and keeping me awake
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:09 AM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:09 AM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
look i don't quite understand all the space jazz that you cool space jazzbos are jazzing about and this post has me completely baffled but could someone please explain to me, in terms that a five year old child could comprehend:
is there going to be a video or something of a cool space explosion?
Like, is there gonna be something that visibly changes about this particular bit of space on a timescale that is visible to human eyeballs? Like, over the coarse of a minute or something?
Also I live in EST and is this a thing that I can see? Man, I just don't get space. Who does? Probably nobody.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:30 AM on May 25, 2023
is there going to be a video or something of a cool space explosion?
Like, is there gonna be something that visibly changes about this particular bit of space on a timescale that is visible to human eyeballs? Like, over the coarse of a minute or something?
Also I live in EST and is this a thing that I can see? Man, I just don't get space. Who does? Probably nobody.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:30 AM on May 25, 2023
> is there going to be a video or something of a cool space explosion?
No, just something in the sky that doesn't appear visible very often because our Milky Way doesn't produce enough of them locally for us to catch an easily-visible one in our lifetime. Whereas some galaxies have a much greater rate of them than we do. If this were in our galaxy, you wouldn't need a telescope to see it.
> Like, is there gonna be something that visibly changes about this particular bit of space on a timescale that is visible to human eyeballs?
Via a telescope or online telescopes like this: yes. The dot is bright now but it will fade within a matter of weeks.
> Like, over the coarse of a minute or something?
Nope. Not from where we're situated.
> Also I live in EST and is this a thing that I can see?
Yes, online you can see it. If you have a backyard telescope, you can see without internet it if you know where to point it.
> Man, I just don't get space. Who does? Probably nobody.
In a real, tangible way? Nobody.
posted by not_on_display at 10:16 AM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
No, just something in the sky that doesn't appear visible very often because our Milky Way doesn't produce enough of them locally for us to catch an easily-visible one in our lifetime. Whereas some galaxies have a much greater rate of them than we do. If this were in our galaxy, you wouldn't need a telescope to see it.
> Like, is there gonna be something that visibly changes about this particular bit of space on a timescale that is visible to human eyeballs?
Via a telescope or online telescopes like this: yes. The dot is bright now but it will fade within a matter of weeks.
> Like, over the coarse of a minute or something?
Nope. Not from where we're situated.
> Also I live in EST and is this a thing that I can see?
Yes, online you can see it. If you have a backyard telescope, you can see without internet it if you know where to point it.
> Man, I just don't get space. Who does? Probably nobody.
In a real, tangible way? Nobody.
posted by not_on_display at 10:16 AM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
> Man, I just don't get space. Who does? Probably nobody.
Puts me in mind of this:
Morty: There's snakes in space?
Rick: There's literally everything in space!
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 11:14 AM on May 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Puts me in mind of this:
Morty: There's snakes in space?
Rick: There's literally everything in space!
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 11:14 AM on May 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
THE STREAM HAS BEEN DELAYED 24 HOURS.
New time: FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2023, at 6:30 Eastern, 22:30 UTC
posted by not_on_display at 3:38 PM on May 25, 2023
New time: FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2023, at 6:30 Eastern, 22:30 UTC
posted by not_on_display at 3:38 PM on May 25, 2023
Heck, after traveling 21-million light-years to get here, what's another hour?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:06 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:06 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
@rockindata: Those Directors' Discretionary Time projects you linked to are for very different objects (the 10.5 hour one is actually looking at a very distant supernova distorted by gravitational lensing... as it happens the PI is an old friend of mine).
However, most observatories (including JWST) do have a category for things like this: they are called "Target of Opportunity" or ToO observations. People apply to take over the telescope for a certain amount of time if a particular type of event occurs (e.g., this is how follow-up observations to search for visible-light counterparts of gravitational wave events are scheduled).
JWST (or Hubble, for that matter) won't show us any more detailed images of the event than any other telescope, as the supernova is so far away that the light is effectively all coming from a single point in the sky. What JWST will do is allow measurements of the supernova's light at infrared wavelengths that are hard to observe well through the Earth's atmosphere (not least because the atmosphere radiates at those wavelengths).
posted by janewman at 6:14 PM on May 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
However, most observatories (including JWST) do have a category for things like this: they are called "Target of Opportunity" or ToO observations. People apply to take over the telescope for a certain amount of time if a particular type of event occurs (e.g., this is how follow-up observations to search for visible-light counterparts of gravitational wave events are scheduled).
JWST (or Hubble, for that matter) won't show us any more detailed images of the event than any other telescope, as the supernova is so far away that the light is effectively all coming from a single point in the sky. What JWST will do is allow measurements of the supernova's light at infrared wavelengths that are hard to observe well through the Earth's atmosphere (not least because the atmosphere radiates at those wavelengths).
posted by janewman at 6:14 PM on May 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
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That’s a hell of a supernova, to distort time here, 21-million light years away!
posted by Thorzdad at 4:33 PM on May 24, 2023 [3 favorites]