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71-406: Rosing incorporated Las Cumbres Observatory in 1993 with the goal of aiding universities, observatories, and individuals in the acquisition and improvement of telescopes, optics, and instrumentation. He also set the objective for the organization to build and implement a global telescope system. In 2005, Rosing established the global telescope version of Las Cumbres Observatory. LCO initially acquired

142-487: A 26 arcminute square field of view. During 2017, a set of high-resolution (R = 50,000), high-stability spectrographs (NRES) were deployed to four of the LCO sites to be coupled by optical fibres to the 1 meter telescopes. The 40 centimetres (16 in) telescopes are equipped with SBIG STX-6303 optical imagers. The global telescope network operates as a single observatory. Users request observations only for

213-473: A 50 arcminute-diameter fully corrected field of view. The 40 centimetres (16 in) telescopes use the optics and tubes from Meade 16 inch RCX telescopes. The mount has been replaced by a scaled-down version of the LCO 1 meter telescope mount. The 2 meter telescopes are instrumented with optical imagers and low-resolution optical spectrographs (FLOYDS). The 1 meter telescopes are instrumented with “Sinistro” optical imagers that have

284-402: A generic class of telescope/instrument and the software scheduler determines an optimum observing schedule for each telescope. The scheduler revises the observing schedules for all telescopes as necessary and updates can be provided within 15 minutes. The rapid-response request mode bypasses the scheduler and can begin an observation within a few minutes after submission. Each telescope carries out

355-412: A journal article came the following year in a publication by Knut Lundmark , who may have coined it independently. Compared to a star's entire history, the visual appearance of a supernova is very brief, sometimes spanning several months, so that the chances of observing one with the naked eye are roughly once in a lifetime. Only a tiny fraction of the 100  billion stars in a typical galaxy have

426-446: A nightly calibration program and adjusts its pointing and focus several times per night. The telescopes are all instrumented uniformly to facilitate the combining of data from multiple telescopes or sites. Data are returned to LCO headquarters, where they are processed to remove instrumental signature and ingested into an archive. Users have immediate access to their observations and all data are made public after 12 months. The network

497-453: A non-rotating star), it would no longer be able to support the bulk of its mass through electron degeneracy pressure and would begin to collapse. However, the current view is that this limit is not normally attained; increasing temperature and density inside the core ignite carbon fusion as the star approaches the limit (to within about 1%) before collapse is initiated. In contrast, for a core primarily composed of oxygen, neon and magnesium,

568-557: A one or two-letter designation. The first 26 supernovae of the year are designated with a capital letter from A to Z . Next, pairs of lower-case letters are used: aa , ab , and so on. Hence, for example, SN 2003C designates the third supernova reported in the year 2003. The last supernova of 2005, SN 2005nc, was the 367th (14 × 26 + 3 = 367). Since 2000, professional and amateur astronomers have been finding several hundred supernovae each year (572 in 2007, 261 in 2008, 390 in 2009; 231 in 2013). Historical supernovae are known simply by

639-675: A rare type of very fast supernova with unusually strong calcium lines in their spectra. Models suggest they occur when material is accreted from a helium -rich companion rather than a hydrogen -rich star. Because of helium lines in their spectra, they can resemble type Ib supernovae, but are thought to have very different progenitors. The supernovae of type II can also be sub-divided based on their spectra. While most type II supernovae show very broad emission lines which indicate expansion velocities of many thousands of kilometres per second , some, such as SN 2005gl , have relatively narrow features in their spectra. These are called type IIn, where

710-948: A robotically operated network. Over the next few years, Rosing and the LCO staff came to understand that a network composed of many smaller telescopes would provide greater observing capacity. The organization designed its own 1 meter telescope with a plan to locate several of these at each chosen site. An even smaller 40 cm telescope was also developed primarily for use in education projects. During 2012 and 2013, nine 1 meter telescopes were constructed and deployed to McDonald Observatory at Fort Davis, Texas; Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO) in Chile; South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), near Sutherland, South Africa; and SSO in Australia. During 2015 and 2016, seven 40 cm telescopes were deployed to CTIO, Haleakala Observatory, SSO, and to Teide Observatory on Tenerife in

781-703: A stellar companion to raise its core temperature enough to ignite carbon fusion , at which point it undergoes runaway nuclear fusion, completely disrupting it. There are three avenues by which this detonation is theorised to happen: stable accretion of material from a companion, the collision of two white dwarfs, or accretion that causes ignition in a shell that then ignites the core. The dominant mechanism by which type Ia supernovae are produced remains unclear. Despite this uncertainty in how type Ia supernovae are produced, type Ia supernovae have very uniform properties and are useful standard candles over intergalactic distances. Some calibrations are required to compensate for

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852-474: A supernova's spectrum contains lines of hydrogen (known as the Balmer series in the visual portion of the spectrum) it is classified Type II ; otherwise it is Type I . In each of these two types there are subdivisions according to the presence of lines from other elements or the shape of the light curve (a graph of the supernova's apparent magnitude as a function of time). Type I supernovae are subdivided on

923-611: Is a clone of the Liverpool Telescope , and is located at Haleakala Observatory in the U.S. state of Hawaii . It is a 2 m (79 in) f/10 Ritchey-Chrétien telescope . The telescope is owned and operated by LCOGT . This telescope and its sister telescope Faulkes Telescope South are used by research and education groups around the globe. The Faulkes Telescope Project is one such group which provides observing time (awarded by LCOGT) for educational projects for UK schools and amateur astronomers. In 2013, it imaged

994-449: Is a dimensionless measure of the spectrum's frequency shift. High redshift searches for supernovae usually involve the observation of supernova light curves. These are useful for standard or calibrated candles to generate Hubble diagrams and make cosmological predictions. Supernova spectroscopy, used to study the physics and environments of supernovae, is more practical at low than at high redshift. Low redshift observations also anchor

1065-530: Is administered through a peer-review proposal process run by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Several science teams and individuals also purchase time on the LCO network. The design and operation of the LCO global telescope network provide the unique capabilities required for time domain astronomy. The LCO network offers the ability to observe objects or events continuously and the ability to obtain data rapidly upon

1136-538: Is available to researchers at institutions that are members of the LCO science collaboration. Institutions that operate the sites hosting the LCO telescopes and a few institutions that have contributed resources to help build the network are members of the collaboration. The entire U.S. astronomical community gained access to the LCO network in 2016 as a result of an award from the National Science Foundation's Mid-Scale Innovation Program. The program

1207-500: Is debated and several alternative explanations, such as tidal disruption of a star by a black hole, have been suggested. SN 2013fs was recorded three hours after the supernova event on 6 October 2013, by the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory . This is among the earliest supernovae caught after detonation, and it is the earliest for which spectra have been obtained, beginning six hours after

1278-454: Is generated, with matter reaching velocities on the order of 5,000–20,000 km/s , or roughly 3% of the speed of light. There is also a significant increase in luminosity, reaching an absolute magnitude of −19.3 (or 5 billion times brighter than the Sun), with little variation. The model for the formation of this category of supernova is a close binary star system. The larger of the two stars

1349-549: Is much variation in this type of event, and, in many cases, there may be no supernova at all, in which case they will have a less luminous light curve than the more normal SN type Ia. Abnormally bright type Ia supernovae occur when the white dwarf already has a mass higher than the Chandrasekhar limit, possibly enhanced further by asymmetry, but the ejected material will have less than normal kinetic energy. This super-Chandrasekhar-mass scenario can occur, for example, when

1420-579: Is required. It is therefore important to discover them well before they reach their maximum. Amateur astronomers , who greatly outnumber professional astronomers, have played an important role in finding supernovae, typically by looking at some of the closer galaxies through an optical telescope and comparing them to earlier photographs. Toward the end of the 20th century, astronomers increasingly turned to computer-controlled telescopes and CCDs for hunting supernovae. While such systems are popular with amateurs, there are also professional installations such as

1491-414: Is the first to evolve off the main sequence , and it expands to form a red giant . The two stars now share a common envelope, causing their mutual orbit to shrink. The giant star then sheds most of its envelope, losing mass until it can no longer continue nuclear fusion . At this point, it becomes a white dwarf star, composed primarily of carbon and oxygen. Eventually, the secondary star also evolves off

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1562-530: The Andromeda Galaxy . A second supernova, SN 1895B , was discovered in NGC 5253 a decade later. Early work on what was originally believed to be simply a new category of novae was performed during the 1920s. These were variously called "upper-class Novae", "Hauptnovae", or "giant novae". The name "supernovae" is thought to have been coined by Walter Baade and Zwicky in lectures at Caltech in 1931. It

1633-518: The Chandrasekhar limit ; electron capture ; pair-instability ; or photodisintegration . The table below lists the known reasons for core collapse in massive stars, the types of stars in which they occur, their associated supernova type, and the remnant produced. The metallicity is the proportion of elements other than hydrogen or helium, as compared to the Sun. The initial mass is the mass of

1704-570: The Eta Carinae Great Outburst was noted. Supernovae in M101 (1909) and M83 (1923 and 1957) were also suggested as possible type IV or type V supernovae. These types would now all be treated as peculiar type II supernovae (IIpec), of which many more examples have been discovered, although it is still debated whether SN 1961V was a true supernova following an LBV outburst or an impostor. Supernova type codes, as summarised in

1775-664: The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope . The Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS) project uses a network of neutrino detectors to give early warning of a supernova in the Milky Way galaxy. Neutrinos are subatomic particles that are produced in great quantities by a supernova, and they are not significantly absorbed by the interstellar gas and dust of the galactic disk. Supernova searches fall into two classes: those focused on relatively nearby events and those looking farther away. Because of

1846-526: The Large Magellanic Cloud , a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Theoretical studies indicate that most supernovae are triggered by one of two basic mechanisms: the sudden re-ignition of nuclear fusion in a white dwarf , or the sudden gravitational collapse of a massive star's core . Supernovae can expel several solar masses of material at speeds up to several percent of the speed of light . This drives an expanding shock wave into

1917-413: The expansion of the universe , the distance to a remote object with a known emission spectrum can be estimated by measuring its Doppler shift (or redshift ); on average, more-distant objects recede with greater velocity than those nearby, and so have a higher redshift. Thus the search is split between high redshift and low redshift, with the boundary falling around a redshift range of z=0.1–0.3, where z

1988-416: The naked eye . The remnants of more recent supernovae have been found, and observations of supernovae in other galaxies suggest they occur in the Milky Way on average about three times every century. A supernova in the Milky Way would almost certainly be observable through modern astronomical telescopes. The most recent naked-eye supernova was SN 1987A , which was the explosion of a blue supergiant star in

2059-533: The plural form supernovae ( /- v iː / ) or supernovas and is often abbreviated as SN or SNe. It is derived from the Latin word nova , meaning ' new ' , which refers to what appears to be a temporary new bright star. Adding the prefix "super-" distinguishes supernovae from ordinary novae, which are far less luminous. The word supernova was coined by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky , who began using it in astrophysics lectures in 1931. Its first use in

2130-495: The progenitor , either collapses to a neutron star or black hole , or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula . The peak optical luminosity of a supernova can be comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks or months. The last supernova directly observed in the Milky Way was Kepler's Supernova in 1604, appearing not long after Tycho's Supernova in 1572, both of which were visible to

2201-431: The "n" stands for "narrow". A few supernovae, such as SN 1987K and SN 1993J , appear to change types: they show lines of hydrogen at early times, but, over a period of weeks to months, become dominated by lines of helium. The term "type IIb" is used to describe the combination of features normally associated with types II and Ib. Type II supernovae with normal spectra dominated by broad hydrogen lines that remain for

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2272-681: The Canary Islands. After completion of the construction and installation of these telescopes, LCO began its transition to operating a global observatory. In 2013, a Board of Directors was established and a President was hired to lead the organization. Full science scheduling began on 1 May 2014, with the two 2 meter and nine 1 meter telescopes operating as a single, integrated, observatory. The 40 cm telescopes were added to this system as they were commissioned. The National Science Foundation made an award to LCO in 2016 through its Mid-Scale Innovations Program, purchasing access to

2343-538: The LCO network for all astronomers at U.S. institutions. The goal of this program is to prepare this community to carry out effective research following discoveries being made by current and future time domain astronomy surveys. LCO operates its network at seven sites. The operating sites are all professional astronomical observatories. In the southern hemisphere: In the northern hemisphere: The Ngari Observatory in Ngari Prefecture , western Tibet, China

2414-755: The Middle East, Australia, or running entirely online programs, for students, teachers, and the wider public. In 2019 the reported direct impact of the program was 13,000 individuals exclusively using the LCO 0.4-meter network, predominantly school children and teachers. The LCO education team also maintains in-house educational programs to trigger observations and make use of data from the LCO network. These programs are designed to inspire anyone with an interest in astronomy to explore science using robotic telescopes. Recent successful programs include Asteroid Tracker, Agent Exoplanet, and Serol's Cosmic Explorers. Faulkes Telescope North The Faulkes Telescope North

2485-615: The actual explosion. The star is located in a spiral galaxy named NGC 7610 , 160 million light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus. The supernova SN 2016gkg was detected by amateur astronomer Victor Buso from Rosario , Argentina, on 20 September 2016. It was the first time that the initial "shock breakout" from an optical supernova had been observed. The progenitor star has been identified in Hubble Space Telescope images from before its collapse. Astronomer Alex Filippenko noted: "Observations of stars in

2556-688: The basis of their spectra, with type Ia showing a strong ionised silicon absorption line. Type I supernovae without this strong line are classified as type Ib and Ic, with type Ib showing strong neutral helium lines and type Ic lacking them. Historically, the light curves of type I supernovae were seen as all broadly similar, too much so to make useful distinctions. While variations in light curves have been studied, classification continues to be made on spectral grounds rather than light-curve shape. A small number of type Ia supernovae exhibit unusual features, such as non-standard luminosity or broadened light curves, and these are typically categorised by referring to

2627-449: The beginning of LCO, education has been one of its core missions. In 2017, for the first time in LCO's history it issued an open call for education partners, Global Sky Partners—groups who could use their robotic telescopes to inspire diverse audiences with educational and outreach projects that they support. In 2019 there are 20 LCO Global Sky Partners based in the US, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa,

2698-543: The capacity to become a supernova, the ability being restricted to those having high mass and those in rare kinds of binary star systems with at least one white dwarf . The earliest record of a possible supernova, known as HB9, was likely viewed by an unknown prehistoric people of the Indian subcontinent and recorded on a rock carving in the Burzahama region of Kashmir , dated to 4500 ± 1000  BC . Later, SN 185

2769-402: The collapsing white dwarf will typically form a neutron star . In this case, only a fraction of the star's mass will be ejected during the collapse. Within a few seconds of the collapse process, a substantial fraction of the matter in the white dwarf undergoes nuclear fusion, releasing enough energy (1– 2 × 10   J ) to unbind the star in a supernova. An outwardly expanding shock wave

2840-454: The core against its own gravity; passing this threshold is the cause of all types of supernova except type Ia. The collapse may cause violent expulsion of the outer layers of the star resulting in a supernova. However, if the release of gravitational potential energy is insufficient, the star may instead collapse into a black hole or neutron star with little radiated energy. Core collapse can be caused by several different mechanisms: exceeding

2911-448: The defunct Herschel Space Observatory . This Hawaiʻi state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Supernovae A supernova ( pl. : supernovae or supernovas ) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star . A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star , or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion . The original object, called

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2982-418: The discovery or announcement of an event. The LCO network has been used to study supernovae and other explosive transients; exoplanets , through observations of both transits and microlensing; asteroids ; and AGN variability. In 2017 LCO played a critical part in two major discoveries: first visible counterpart of a gravitational wave event, and a new type of supernova with successive explosions. Since

3053-400: The distance to their host galaxies. A second model for the formation of type Ia supernovae involves the merger of two white dwarf stars, with the combined mass momentarily exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit. This is sometimes referred to as the double-degenerate model, as both stars are degenerate white dwarfs. Due to the possible combinations of mass and chemical composition of the pair there

3124-401: The earliest example showing similar features. For example, the sub-luminous SN 2008ha is often referred to as SN 2002cx -like or class Ia-2002cx. A small proportion of type Ic supernovae show highly broadened and blended emission lines which are taken to indicate very high expansion velocities for the ejecta. These have been classified as type Ic-BL or Ic-bl. Calcium-rich supernovae are

3195-411: The event sufficiently for it to go unnoticed. The situation for Cassiopeia A is less clear; infrared light echoes have been detected showing that it was not in a region of especially high extinction. SN's identification With the development of the astronomical telescope , observation and discovery of fainter and more distant supernovae became possible. The first such observation was of SN 1885A in

3266-558: The extra mass is supported by differential rotation . There is no formal sub-classification for non-standard type Ia supernovae. It has been proposed that a group of sub-luminous supernovae that occur when helium accretes onto a white dwarf should be classified as type Iax . This type of supernova may not always completely destroy the white dwarf progenitor and could leave behind a zombie star . One specific type of supernova originates from exploding white dwarfs, like type Ia, but contains hydrogen lines in their spectra, possibly because

3337-451: The first moments they begin exploding provide information that cannot be directly obtained in any other way." The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has significantly advanced our understanding of supernovae by identifying around 80 new instances through its JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program. This includes the most distant spectroscopically confirmed supernova at a redshift of 3.6, indicating its explosion occurred when

3408-439: The gradual change in properties or different frequencies of abnormal luminosity supernovae at high redshift, and for small variations in brightness identified by light curve shape or spectrum. There are several means by which a supernova of this type can form, but they share a common underlying mechanism. If a carbon - oxygen white dwarf accreted enough matter to reach the Chandrasekhar limit of about 1.44 solar masses (for

3479-564: The increasing number of discoveries has regularly led to the additional use of three-letter designations. After zz comes aaa, then aab, aac, and so on. For example, the last supernova retained in the Asiago Supernova Catalogue ; when it was terminated on 31 December 2017 bears the designation SN 2017jzp. Astronomers classify supernovae according to their light curves and the absorption lines of different chemical elements that appear in their spectra . If

3550-431: The life of the decline are classified on the basis of their light curves. The most common type shows a distinctive "plateau" in the light curve shortly after peak brightness where the visual luminosity stays relatively constant for several months before the decline resumes. These are called type II-P referring to the plateau. Less common are type II-L supernovae that lack a distinct plateau. The "L" signifies "linear" although

3621-437: The light curve is extremely consistent across normal type Ia supernovae, having a maximum absolute magnitude of about −19.3. This is because typical type Ia supernovae arise from a consistent type of progenitor star by gradual mass acquisition, and explode when they acquire a consistent typical mass, giving rise to very similar supernova conditions and behaviour. This allows them to be used as a secondary standard candle to measure

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3692-487: The light curve is not actually a straight line. Supernovae that do not fit into the normal classifications are designated peculiar, or "pec". Zwicky defined additional supernovae types based on a very few examples that did not cleanly fit the parameters for type I or type II supernovae. SN 1961i in NGC 4303 was the prototype and only member of the type III supernova class, noted for its broad light curve maximum and broad hydrogen Balmer lines that were slow to develop in

3763-463: The low-distance end of the Hubble curve , which is a plot of distance versus redshift for visible galaxies. As survey programmes rapidly increase the number of detected supernovae, collated collections of observations (light decay curves, astrometry, pre-supernova observations, spectroscopy) have been assembled. The Pantheon data set, assembled in 2018, detailed 1048 supernovae. In 2021, this data set

3834-492: The main sequence to form a red giant. Matter from the giant is accreted by the white dwarf, causing the latter to increase in mass. The exact details of initiation and of the heavy elements produced in the catastrophic event remain unclear. Type Ia supernovae produce a characteristic light curve—the graph of luminosity as a function of time—after the event. This luminosity is generated by the radioactive decay of nickel -56 through cobalt -56 to iron -56. The peak luminosity of

3905-469: The most distant supernovae observed in 2003 appeared dimmer than expected. This supports the view that the expansion of the universe is accelerating . Techniques were developed for reconstructing supernovae events that have no written records of being observed. The date of the Cassiopeia A supernova event was determined from light echoes off nebulae , while the age of supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622

3976-564: The naked eye, had a notable influence on the development of astronomy in Europe because they were used to argue against the Aristotelian idea that the universe beyond the Moon and planets was static and unchanging. Johannes Kepler began observing SN 1604 at its peak on 17 October 1604, and continued to make estimates of its brightness until it faded from naked eye view a year later. It was

4047-491: The second supernova to be observed in a generation, after Tycho Brahe observed SN 1572 in Cassiopeia . There is some evidence that the youngest known supernova in our galaxy, G1.9+0.3 , occurred in the late 19th century, considerably more recently than Cassiopeia A from around 1680. Neither was noted at the time. In the case of G1.9+0.3, high extinction from dust along the plane of the galactic disk could have dimmed

4118-452: The spectrum. SN 1961f in NGC 3003 was the prototype and only member of the type IV class, with a light curve similar to a type II-P supernova, with hydrogen absorption lines but weak hydrogen emission lines . The type V class was coined for SN 1961V in NGC 1058 , an unusual faint supernova or supernova impostor with a slow rise to brightness, a maximum lasting many months, and an unusual emission spectrum. The similarity of SN 1961V to

4189-514: The star prior to the supernova event, given in multiples of the Sun's mass, although the mass at the time of the supernova may be much lower. Type IIn supernovae are not listed in the table. They can be produced by various types of core collapse in different progenitor stars, possibly even by type Ia white dwarf ignitions, although it seems that most will be from iron core collapse in luminous supergiants or hypergiants (including LBVs). The narrow spectral lines for which they are named occur because

4260-469: The supernova is expanding into a small dense cloud of circumstellar material. It appears that a significant proportion of supposed type IIn supernovae are supernova impostors, massive eruptions of LBV-like stars similar to the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae . In these events, material previously ejected from the star creates the narrow absorption lines and causes a shock wave through interaction with

4331-422: The surrounding interstellar medium , sweeping up an expanding shell of gas and dust observed as a supernova remnant. Supernovae are a major source of elements in the interstellar medium from oxygen to rubidium . The expanding shock waves of supernovae can trigger the formation of new stars . Supernovae are a major source of cosmic rays . They might also produce gravitational waves . The word supernova has

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4402-409: The table above, are taxonomic : the type number is based on the light observed from the supernova, not necessarily its cause. For example, type Ia supernovae are produced by runaway fusion ignited on degenerate white dwarf progenitors, while the spectrally similar type Ib/c are produced from massive stripped progenitor stars by core collapse. A white dwarf star may accumulate sufficient material from

4473-474: The two Faulkes 2 meter telescopes. Faulkes Telescope North (FTN) located at Haleakala Observatory , on Maui, Hawaii, and Faulkes Telescope South (FTS) at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO), in eastern Australia. LCO also purchased the company that built the Faulkes telescopes, Telescope Technologies Limited of Liverpool, with the intent of installing additional 2-meter telescopes at different sites to form

4544-820: The universe was merely 1.8 billion years old. These findings offer crucial insights into the early universe's stellar evolution and the frequency of supernovae during its formative years. Because supernovae are relatively rare events within a galaxy, occurring about three times a century in the Milky Way, obtaining a good sample of supernovae to study requires regular monitoring of many galaxies. Today, amateur and professional astronomers are finding several hundred every year, some when near maximum brightness, others on old astronomical photographs or plates. Supernovae in other galaxies cannot be predicted with any meaningful accuracy. Normally, when they are discovered, they are already in progress. To use supernovae as standard candles for measuring distance, observation of their peak luminosity

4615-484: The white dwarf is surrounded by an envelope of hydrogen-rich circumstellar material . These supernovae have been dubbed type Ia/IIn , type Ian , type IIa and type IIan . The quadruple star HD 74438 , belonging to the open cluster IC 2391 the Vela constellation , has been predicted to become a non-standard type Ia supernova. Very massive stars can undergo core collapse when nuclear fusion becomes unable to sustain

4686-460: The year they occurred: SN 185, SN 1006, SN 1054, SN 1572 (called Tycho's Nova ) and SN 1604 ( Kepler's Star ). Since 1885 the additional letter notation has been used, even if there was only one supernova discovered that year (for example, SN 1885A, SN 1907A, etc.); this last happened with SN 1947A. SN , for SuperNova, is a standard prefix. Until 1987, two-letter designations were rarely needed; since 1988, they have been needed every year. Since 2016,

4757-560: Was added as a node to the network. LCO also operates an identical 1 meter telescope at its headquarters in Goleta for engineering development and a 0.8 meter telescope at Sedgwick Reserve near Santa Ynez, California. The 2 meter telescopes are the two Faulkes telescopes built by Telescope Technologies Ltd. They are f/10 Ritchey-Chrétien optical configurations on alt-az mounts. The 1 meter telescopes are f/7.95 Ritchey-Chrétien optical systems on equatorial mounts. They have

4828-561: Was documented by Chinese astronomers in 185 AD. The brightest recorded supernova was SN 1006 , which was observed in AD 1006 in the constellation of Lupus . This event was described by observers in China, Japan, Iraq, Egypt and Europe. The widely observed supernova SN 1054 produced the Crab Nebula . Supernovae SN 1572 and SN 1604 , the latest Milky Way supernovae to be observed with

4899-464: Was estimated from temperature measurements and the gamma ray emissions from the radioactive decay of titanium-44 . The most luminous supernova ever recorded is ASASSN-15lh , at a distance of 3.82 gigalight-years . It was first detected in June 2015 and peaked at 570 billion  L ☉ , which is twice the bolometric luminosity of any other known supernova. The nature of this supernova

4970-495: Was expanded to 1701 light curves for 1550 supernovae taken from 18 different surveys, a 50% increase in under 3 years. Supernova discoveries are reported to the International Astronomical Union 's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams , which sends out a circular with the name it assigns to that supernova. The name is formed from the prefix SN , followed by the year of discovery, suffixed with

5041-503: Was used, as "super-Novae", in a journal paper published by Knut Lundmark in 1933, and in a 1934 paper by Baade and Zwicky. By 1938, the hyphen was no longer used and the modern name was in use. American astronomers Rudolph Minkowski and Fritz Zwicky developed the modern supernova classification scheme beginning in 1941. During the 1960s, astronomers found that the maximum intensities of supernovae could be used as standard candles , hence indicators of astronomical distances. Some of

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