ERNEST ORLANDO / LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY

30 August 1999 Sky & Telescope 1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
 S u pe r n ova e ,
Neutrinos,
a n d A m at e u r
A st r o n o m e r s
They give birth astride a grave, the light gleams an instant,
then its night once more.
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

T
he last person to see and chronicle a supernova
outburst in our galaxy was Johannes Kepler. That
was in 1604, when the star now named after him ri-
valed Venus in brightness. By some measures were

DAVID MALIN, RAY SHARPLES / ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN TELESCOPE

overdue for another brilliant supernova, yet the next star to
explode in our galaxy is more likely to be a visual pipsqueak
compared to Keplers Star. Yet even a dim supernova is unlike-
ly to be overlooked; its birth will be trumpeted by physicists
subterranean particle detectors rather than by astronomers
telescopes.
Supernovae are stars that brighten by a dozen magnitudes
or so and at their peak are some 10,000 times more luminous
than ordinary novae. (The physical processes operating during
these two explosions are completely different: su-
pernovae blow themselves to smithereens; ordi-
nary novae dont.) The enormous luminosity of
supernovae at their brightest makes it possible to Above: The supernova that was spotted in the Large
readily spot them in distant galaxies for weeks Magellanic Cloud in 1987 reached 3rd magnitude
they can match the light output from all the and was the brightest to grace our skies in 383 years.
HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM

other stars in a hefty system like our own Milky

Way. Indeed, the identification of supernovae as Left: Whats seen today are the faded star and two
a unique phenomenon had to wait until the surrounding rings of gas that it has lit up. This three-
1920s, when galaxies themselves were recognized color Hubble Space Telescope composite is from sev-
as independent star systems. eral images taken in 1994, 1996, and 1997.

Facing page: Neutrino observatories like this one at Sudbury, Ontario,

Amateur astronomers have a unique will be the first to know when a Type II supernova explodes in our gal-
axy or a nearby neighbor. Incoming neutrinos interact with deuterium
opportunity to find the next nearby
atoms and produce flashes of light that are recorded by photomulti-
supernova. By Leif J. Robinson plier tubes. Some 10,000 of these line this 18-meter-diameter sphere.

1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Sky & Telescope August 1999 31
 Behold, directly overhead, a certain strange star was sud-
denly seen, flashing its light with a radiant gleam. . . . As-
tonished and stupefied, I stood still. . . . When I had satisfied
myself that no star of that kind had ever shone forth before
. . . I began to doubt the faith of my own eyes. . . . Having
confirmed that my vision was not deceiving me . . . and
marveling that the sky had brought forth a certain new
phenomenon to be compared with the other stars, I imme-
diately got ready my instrument.
Tycho Brahe reflecting on the supernova of 1572

No supernova outburst has been studied in our Milky Way

for nearly 400 years. Therefore, everything we know about the
workings of these stars has come from observing them in
other galaxies. At such immense distances even these celestial
powerhouses are dim, and their secrets have to be teased from
the paltry number of photons that strike our detectors. Fur-
thermore, catching these critters in the act has been a matter
of chance, even after systematic searches began in the 1930s.

S&T / CRAIG MICHAEL UTTER

The idea is simple: look at enough galaxies and, sooner or
later, youll find a supernova.
Even so, these distant supernovae are detected days or weeks
after their outbursts begin. What hasnt been observed are the
earliest stages of a supernovas development. Particularly inter-
esting, for example, will be observations to assess the chemical
composition and physical state of the fastest-moving pieces of
the stars blown-off atmosphere. Such information should
provide insight about the end point in the evolution of a very
massive star as well as clues about how heavy elements are in-
jected into the interstellar medium.
Wonderfully detailed mathematical models of supernova
explosions have been built on theorists computers (see page
36). They tell us what to expect, but wouldnt it be nice to have
a sanity check? This may now be possible thanks to a group of
neutrino () observatories that can warn us when a star blows
up in our cosmic backyard the Milky Way and its nearby
attendants in the Local Group even before its light begins
to turn on! Although this new tool is wielded by high-energy
physicists, its impact will likely rest with amateur astronomers
and other small-telescope users.
and You
When a really heavy star (eight or more times the mass of the
Sun) runs out of gas, literally, its core collapses and a so-called
Magnitudes from maximum
Magnitudes from maximum
In his book, De nova stella, Tycho included this sketch of Cassiopeia
with the supernova of 1572 at the top, near a star now called Kappa.
Type II supernova is born. Within a second, its Earth-size core
crumples into a ball a neutron star or black hole whose
density is akin to that of an atomic nucleus (a million billion
kilograms per cubic centimeter). As gravity forces electrons
and protons to coalesce and form neutrons, a gazillion
ghostlike neutrinos are instantly set free to roam the universe,
perhaps for eternity. (Neutrinos are chargeless, possibly mass-
less elementary particles.)
Just after the neutrinos begin to zing merrily through space at
(or very near) the speed of light, the stars core stops collapsing.
Then it rebounds, causing a shock wave to travel out toward the
stars surface, which doesnt have a clue about the oncoming
disaster (S&T: August 1995, page 30). If the overweight star is a
red supergiant (like Betelgeuse) with a hydrogen-rich envelope,
nearly a day will elapse between the collapse-induced neutrino
emission and the beginning of the supernova light show.
Except for SN 1987A in the Large
Magellanic Cloud, no star has been ob-

0 0 served before it blew up. As bad luck

1 1 would have it, SN 1987As progenitor
2 2 Type II-P (called Sanduleak 69202) was an odd-
3 Type II-P 3
ball for a Type II supernova; it was a
4 4
5
blue (not red) supergiant and relatively
5
6 Type II-L 6 lightweight (six solar masses instead of
Type II-L
7 7 eight or more). We will probably not
8 8 see another one like it for centuries,
says Stanford Woosley (University of
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
California, Santa Cruz).
Days after maximum light Days after maximum light
Yet SN 1987A will be remembered for
Most supernovae that spew neutrinos exhibit light curves having one of two flavors: the producing the first supernova-spawned
plateau (P) type or the linear (L) type. These examples, in both blue and yellow (visual) neutrino burst detected on Earth, though
light, are composites from observations of many supernovae. Adapted from a paper by Jesse the event was recognized only after the
B. Doggett and David Branch in the Astronomical Journal. supernova was seen shining in the sky.

32 August 1999 Sky & Telescope 1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
 S&T / STEVEN SIMPSON
Material
raining
onto core

Neutrino

1 Core contracts 2 Core hardens 3 Bounce shock starts

4 Shock stalls 5 Instabilities raise shock 6 Explosion proceeds

As soon as a heavyweight star like Betelgeuse ceases to produce heat, within a second its Earth-size core collapses to about 20 kilometers and
a torrent of neutrinos fly away into space. After the core reaches a density comparable to an atomic nucleus it bounces and causes a shock
wave to speed outward through the overlying gas. The shock pauses briefly, but after instabilities form behind it, the shock moving at a
tenth the speed of light resumes its voyage to the stars surface. It usually gets there in 12 to 24 hours, and then the supernova lights up.

Yo u M ay A l r e a dy H ave a S u pe r n ova D e t ec to r

A n ordinary 35-mm camera is a very

powerful tool for a supernova search.
With a 50-mm f/2.8 lens and ISO 800 film,
a 5-minute exposure reaches magnitude
11 and covers a field spanning 27 by 40.
With a 300-mm lens the limiting magni-
tude deepens to 15, but the field shrinks
to 4 12 by 612. The former setup will cover
the most likely error box from the neutrino
detectors say a few hundred square
degrees while the 300-mm can do the
same with about a dozen exposures. Light
pollution and moonlight will reduce the
magnitude limit of any photographic setup.
The problem with film is that processing
it takes time, even if you have a one-hour
lab around the corner that opens at 7 a.m.
For an efficient search, a scanner is almost
mandatory, not only to allow rapid compar-
isons with digital charts but also to permit
quick transmission of the image to the As-
troAlert network (see the box on page 34).
On the other hand, CCDs automatically
provide digital images, but they have very
restricted fields of view. A typical CCD
camera and 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescope (with a focal reducer to give
f/3.3) covers a field of only about 0.2
square degree, but it can reach 18th mag-
nitude with exposures under 10 minutes.
CCDs are also less handicapped by a bright
sky than are photographic emulsions. Yet
the prospect of taking (and examining!)
hundreds or thousands of images doesnt
seem very attractive, to say the least! But
if scores of CCD users each spend a few
hours imaging random areas within the
error box, complete coverage would likely
take place during the first night.
A very effective compromise between
wide fields and deep limiting magnitudes
comes when a CCD is fitted to an ordinary
camera lens. For example, a 135-mm f/2.8
lens attached to a Kodak KAF-0400 CCD
(one of the most popular detectors in
todays amateur cameras) will cover a 2-
by-3 field and reach 14th magnitude in 3
minutes.
So film and electronics complement
each other beautifully. Any detector you
have on hand can be brought into the
search. No system is optimal, simply be-
cause no one can predict the brightness
of the target or the size of the search area.
And whether you spot a candidate or
not, save those images! When the position
of the supernova becomes known, you
can look at them again. Who knows
you might have captured a crucial mo-
ment in the stars death throes.

1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Sky & Telescope August 1999 33
 heres a new, exciting twist: if enough
neutrinos are collected by enough obser-
vatories, we should know not only that a
new star will arise but roughly where in
the sky we should look for it!
To find the supernova as quickly as
possible, a dedicated corps of searchers is
needed around the world. To guarantee
complete sky coverage, given the vagaries
of season and weather, its vital that hun-
dreds, even thousands, of observers par-
ticipate. There are no qualifications ex-
These maps show the distribution of carbon monoxide gas in the direction of two nearby su- cept patience! This effort is truly universal.
pernovae that apparently never became bright sights. A single contour represents one magni- If the dice roll just right, some naked-eye
tude of light extinction; each embedded contour represents two magnitudes more. According observer in Mongolia might spot the su-
to Thomas Dame, theres not enough material along our sightlines to dim these supernovae pernova first, while high-tech amateurs in
below naked-eye visibility unless they were hidden behind unusually dense clumps of gas, Europe sip Cinzano and wait for darkness.
ones so small that they were not resolved by the radio telescope that made these maps. SN To quickly tell amateurs and other
1320 is the closest supernova known to have occurred; SN 1680?, also known as Cassiopeia A, small-telescope users about the nearby
is a famous radio source. Courtesy Thomas Dame. supernova that will surely happen some-
day, efficient communication is essential.
Now, more than a decade later, we are armed with hindsight as Thus, when simultaneous detections at the neutrino observa-
well as with better and more abundant neutrino detectors. tories reach a predetermined level, the Supernova Neutrino
Some even have cute names like Super-K, SNO, MACRO, and Early Warning System (SNEWS) will send its best-guess posi-
AMANDA. tion of the supernova to AstroAlert, a new network established
by Sky & Telescope (see the box below). AstroAlert will echo
Lets Go Get Em! that message to all who have registered with nearby-supernova-
Before neutrinos arrive and sign the physicists guest book, no alert@skypub.com. The small-telescope community will then
one can predict where the next supernova will occur except swing into action and send observations of any supernova can-
that it will likely be within the Milky Ways glowing band or didate back via a standardized form.
enfolded by one of our neighboring galaxies. We also dont
know when the first glimmer of light will appear; if theres lots So What Are We Looking For?
of interstellar smog in the way, days or even weeks could pass Its impossible to predict how bright the next nearby superno-
before the star brightens enough to punch through. va will be or how long we will have to wait for it to pop off.
The delay between the neutrino emission and the rebound- But we can get a feel for the answers by looking at the ques-
ing shocks breakout through the stars photosphere should tions in several different ways.
provide ample time to mobilize the world community of ama- As a starting point, we can create a list, largely from Orien-
teur astronomers and other users of small telescopes. And tal and Arabic records, of supernovae that have been seen dur-

Th e A st r o A l e rt N ew s Se rv i c e

V ery rapid communication worldwide is essential if an opti-

cal supernova is to be found quickly. Thus Sky & Telescope
developed AstroAlert (see the sample message on page 37) to
through maximum brightness. And, hey, wouldnt you like to
know about the huge solar flare that may paint your sky with
an auroral display?
automatically send announcements of neutrino detections. To receive announcements about any type of object or event,
Many organizations and other sources already employ e-mail just send an e-mail message to the appropriate address below.
and Web sites to tell their participants about temporary events (Type subscribe in the body of the message to get on the dis-
in the sky or to update predictions about a particular object. So tribution list and unsubscribe to get off.) You can subscribe to
we invited their participation in AstroAlert too. Those listed on any or all of these services.
the facing page will post messages that involve especially rare Comets: comet-alert@skypub.com
events or information with critical timeliness. Extragalactic supernovae:
Our goal is not to supplant these other sources of infor- extragalactic-supernova-alert@skypub.com
mation, which provide lots of specialized material. Rather, we Gamma-ray bursters:
want to offer one-stop shopping to the broadest possible as- gamma-ray-burst-alert@skypub.com
tronomical community, so everyone can readily receive news Meteors: meteor-alert@skypub.com
about the most significant happenings in the sky. We hope this Minor planets: asteroid-alert@skypub.com
omnibus service will encourage folks to try new things: vari- Neutrino-detected supernovae:
able-star observers may be teased to explore a dust storm on nearby-supernova-alert@skypub.com
Mars; comet aficionados may be tempted to watch Mira go Novae: nova-alert@skypub.com

34 August 1999 Sky & Telescope 1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
 CHRIS HOWK / BLAIR SAVAGE / NIGEL SHARP / TODD TRIPP
Someone in deep space might see our Milky Way gal-
axy resembling this view of NGC 4013, a 12th-magnitude
edge-on spiral in Ursa Major (11h 58.5m, +43 57, 2000 coordinates).
Newly formed blue stars, some of them probably heavy enough to go super-
nova, dot the thick dust lane. Unfortunately for someone inside this galaxy as well
as our own the dust, and especially the gas associated with it, tends to hide these titanic
explosions from view. The bright object near the center is a star in our galaxy, not the core of NGC
4013. This image was taken April 8, 1997, with the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope atop Kitt Peak, Arizona. It is a
composite of blue, yellow, and red exposures totaling 30 minutes.

ing the last two millenniums. Visual Milky Way Supernovae (A.D. 11999)
Two nearby supernovae that should have shone brightly but Year Peak Duration b l Dist. Color
Mag. (months) () () (kpc)
apparently didnt are omitted from the list at right. SN 1680?,
also called Cassiopeia A, is one of the strongest radio sources in 185 8 20 2 315 1.0
the sky and was probably glimpsed by John Flamsteed at 6th 393 0 8 <5 345
magnitude. As shown on the facing page, extensive dimming 1006 10 24+ 15 328 1.4 Yellow
of its light by interstellar gas seems very unlikely. However, ac- 1054 4 22 6 185 2 Yellow
cording to Thomas Dame (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for 1181 0 6 3 131 2.6 Yellow-White
Astrophysics), one cant rule out the possibility that the super- 1572 4 16 1 120 2.3 Yellow-Red
nova went off behind a very small, very dense clump of gas. 1604 3 12 7 5 4.4 Yellow-Red
The recently discovered X-ray remnant of SN 1320 lies at a This table was compiled from a variety of sources but mainly David H. Clark and F.
distance of only about 650 light-years, making it the closest Richard Stephensons book The Historical Supernovae (1977) and an article by Richard G.
known supernova to Earth; its light could have equaled that of Strom in Astronomy and Astrophysics (Vol. 288, pages L14, 1994). Experts still argue
the full Moon! So why wasnt it seen? Again, extinction by in- over whether some of the entries in tables like this represent true supernovae; the five
terstellar gas and dust is extremely unlikely, says Dame. Per- that are boldfaced seem gold plated.The b and l quantities are the stars galactic lat-
haps both SN 1320 and SN 1680? mark a hitherto unknown itudes and longitudes; b = 0 indicates a star exactly in the plane of the Milky Way. A
class of supernovae that are optical duds (April issue, page 22). kiloparsec (kpc) equals 3,260 light-years. Color was in the eye of the beholder.

Occultations: occultation-alert@skypub.com stars (www.astro.columbia.edu/~cba).

Planets: planetary-alert@skypub.com
Solar activity/geophysical phenomena:
sun-earth-alert@skypub.com
Variable stars: variable-star-alert@skypub.com
The following organizations will post alerts. To find out more
about what they do, check out their Web sites at the URLs given.
American Association of Variable Star Observers is the
largest organization of its kind, specializing in long-period and
eruptive variable stars (www.aavso.org).
Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers studies all
kinds of solar-system objects and phenomena, from the Sun to
meteors (www.lpl.arizona.edu/alpo).
British Astronomical Association, the worlds most diverse
amateur research organization, has sections dedicated to virtu-
ally all astronomical events (www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~baa).
Center for Backyard Astrophysics specializes in professional-
quality photometry campaigns involving cataclysmic variable
International Meteor Organization is the dominant clearing-
house for the study of particles that strike the Earths atmos-
phere (www.imo.net).
International Occultation Timing Association provides accu-
rate predictions and professional analyses for lunar, planetary,
and asteroid events (www.anomalies.com/iotaweb/index.htm).
The Amateur Sky Survey aims to discover new objects and phe-
nomena by keeping a large piece of sky under surveillance with
CCD-equipped cameras (www.tass-survey.org/tass/tass.shtml).
The Astronomer is a monthly publication specializing in re-
porting auroras, meteors, lunar and planetary phenomena, solar
activity, and variable stars (www.demon.co.uk/astronomer).
Partners in Discovery, a NASA initiative, aims to involve ama-
teur scientists in research arenas such as astrobiology and as-
tronomy. It will contribute information about solar activity and
astronomical happenings of interest to ham radio operators
(science.nasa.gov).

1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Sky & Telescope August 1999 35
 18
All the entries in the list predate the A recent theoretical model (curves) tracks
invention of the telescope: seven con- the light variations of SN 1969L. Note that
17 V
spicuous naked-eye supernovae in this plateau Type II supernovas ultraviolet
1,400 years, or one every couple of cen- (U) light rises and fades faster than its blue

Absolute magnitude
turies, on average. So why havent we 16 (B) and yellow (V) light. Such a star halfway
B to the center of our galaxy could shine as
had another in 400 years? Whether be-
cause of bad statistics or bad luck, it 15
brightly as Venus but would probably be
seems were overdue by a factor of two. dimmed by interstellar dust. The theoretical
Determining how often supernovae U curves are for a star having 15 times the
14
explode in our Milky Way is fraught Suns mass and 240 times the Suns diame-
with uncertainties, the estimate being ter. They are courtesy Sergei Blinnikov.
13
confounded particularly by the gas and
dust that pervade the galactic plane. cannot reliably extrapolate from the
The rate can be judged in many ways, 12 rate of historical supernovae to obtain
0 50 100 150
but all involve surrogate evidence or Days after core collapse
a rate for the galaxy as a whole, since
initial assumptions that are subject to we appear to live in a region of the gal-
observational bias. These methods include our galaxys inven- axy with an enhanced event rate. Such would be the case if we
tory of heavyweight stars (which blow up 10 million years or were located adjacent to active star-forming regions, where su-
so after being born); the number of pulsars (spinning neutron pernova progenitors are most likely to be born. The bad news
stars, the progeny of supernovae); counts of expanding, is that this team finds the most likely rate for Milky Way su-
wreathlike supernova remnants; and the determination of su- pernovae to be only about two per century. The good news is
pernova rates in galaxies kindred to our own. that the vast bulk of these dying stars will spit out neutrinos.
The Milky Ways supernova rate was estimated in 1994 by So how bright might the next Milky Way supernova be? In
Richard G. Strom (Netherlands Foundation for Research in 1975 Sidney van den Bergh (now at Dominion Astrophysical
Astronomy). By comparing supernovae observed over the past Observatory) made a careful estimate. In preparing this article, I
two millenniums with supernova remnants of comparable age, did my own calculation, using somewhat different rules, and got
he concludes that a star blows up near the Sun (within 5 kilo- similar answers. So I combined both results in the table below.
parsecs [kpc] or 16,000 light-years) every 175 years, on aver- If this distribution is accurate, it implies that pretelescopic
age. By extrapolating this rate to the whole galaxy, Strom pre- observers logged only a third of the supernovae that exploded
dicts a supernova every 20 years or so. in our galaxy. Historians have pointed
On the other hand, a team from the out that a new star had to be really
Apparent Brightnesses of
University of Western Australia published bright, perhaps exceeding magnitude
Milky Way Supernovae
a paper this year that joins evidence from +1.5, to stand a good chance of being
10% will peak brighter than magnitude 3
extragalactic sightings, stars in our galaxy, noticed by ancient astronomers.
20% will peak between magnitudes 3 and +2
and the historical record of supernova The fact that no galactic supernova has
20% will peak between magnitudes +2 and +6
explosions within 4 to 5 kpc (13,000 to been recognized on 20th-century sky-
20% will peak between magnitudes +6 and +11
16,000 light-years) of the Sun. According patrol photographs seems to confirm the
30% will peak fainter than magnitude +11
to coinvestigator Ronald Burman, One robustness of the table. Combined with

R e p o rt i n g a n d Va l i d at i n g t h e N e a r by S u pe r n ova

Y ouve been magically transported to a perfect world.

Four observatories detect incoming neutrinos; the SNEWS
alert goes out, bouncing off AstroAlert and into your computer.
Youre told that the best place to look is at right ascension x,
declination y, and that the error box is 5 by 10.
You grab a star atlas and spin a planisphere to see how soon
youll have an opportunity to search.
If youre lucky, a half day after you receive the alert, evening
twilight will begin to dim and the target area will already be
high in the east a whole nights searching awaits! (If youre
very lucky, everyone else in the world will be clouded out or
having lunch!) You fit a CCD to an 85-mm camera lens and paint
the target region with six images exposed a minute each. Then
you check the field against your favorite star atlas or charting
software. Hey! you say, Whats that 9th-magnitude star where
no star ought to be?
A minute later, kaboom@skypub.com receives your report
and image. Staffers at S&T and the American Association of Vari-
able Star Observers (AAVSO), our next-door neighbor, immedi-
ately check that the putative new star lies within the error box
and that no known star or asteroid matches its position. (Rigor-
ous checking must be done because every minute of world-
class-telescope time is precious and expensive!)
Then the wait begins for a second, independent image to
confirm a lack of motion. An hour later it arrives, and the confir-
mation team becomes confident that your candidate has a high
probability of being the sought-for supernova. Out to all partici-
pants goes e-mail with precise sky coordinates and the magni-
tude of the star; the same message is also formally sent to the
professional astronomical community. Youre a hero! NASA is-
sues a press release! Larry King calls!
Since the perfect world doesnt exist, the first observation of
a putative supernova will likely pinpoint a star fainter perhaps
much fainter than magnitude 10.0, the limit at which our
knowledge of star positions and brightnesses is essentially com-
plete. (In fact, its possible that the supernova responsible for the

36 August 1999 Sky & Telescope 1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
 Galactic center

1604

1006
185

Sun 1320
1680?
1572

1181
1054

the best-guess frequency of supernovae, it suggests that only Eight well-confirmed nearby supernovae are plotted on this birds-
three or four supernovae would have brightened enough to be eye depiction of the Milky Way. Two (in 185 and 1006) occurred in the
recorded on patrol plates. And even if a maverick image had Sagittarius arm of our galaxy and four (in 1054, 1181, 1572, and
been spotted, it would likely have been dismissed as a Kodak 1680?) in the Perseus arm. Where will the next one emerge? Sky &
comet or other defect. Telescope diagram; artwork courtesy Julian Baum.
Maybe those plates are worth checking again by someone
armed with modern radio, X-ray, and other ledgers of super-
nova suspects. As van den Bergh wrote: Very red novae that
exhibit a relatively slow rate of brightness decline are prime
supernova suspects.
Whats the chance that a supernova will jolt the neutrino
detectors in the coming year? Odds of about 1 in 30 would
probably satisfy Las Vegas bookmakers. The chance that the
stellar fireworks will actually be seen drops to about 1 in 70, in
my opinion. So, if you want instant gratification, you had bet-
ter look elsewhere. But what intrigues me is that a champagne
cork could pop tomorrow!

neutrino signal will be so deeply buried by an interstellar cloud

that its light never emerges.) The second imperfection is that the
error box could be a lot bigger than 50 square degrees like
400 times bigger, encompassing an entire hemisphere!
For faint suspects, the confirmation process rapidly becomes
more complex and much less certain. A spectrum might be es-
sential, for a supernovas anticipated brightening rate can be
mimicked by ordinary novae and other variable stars. (Begin-
ning on page 135, Maurice Gavin describes his wonderfully effi-
cient and easily made spectrograph. Accompanying his article is This mock alert telling that a supernova has occurred is formatted
the first field guide to supernova spectra as they might be like that which will be sent out by the neutrino-observatory consor-
recorded by amateurs.) tium. (GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, is the same as Universal Time;
Of course, work with small telescopes shouldnt end with the counts are expressed as neutrinos per kiloton of detector material.)
confirmation of the supernova. S&T and the AAVSO will act as a Because only three detectors were online at the time of this simula-
clearing-house for observations through at least the early tion, the supernovas position is ambiguous: two equally likely posi-
phase of the supernovas rise. Our aim is to produce the most tions are given. Under certain circumstances, the supernovas po-
accurate light curve possible. As we do so, well happily collect sition could be indeterminate. S&T illustration; source, Alec Habig
other observations of relevance to the scientific community. (Boston University).

1999 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Sky & Telescope August 1999 37