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A Serendipitous Discovery “We were at the right place,

A Serendipitous Discovery “We were at the right place, at the right time, with the right telescope, and witnessed history...” For the very first time we caught a star in the act of exploding. X-ray Outburst!. Image courtesy of Princeton, Gemini Observatories, and NASA.

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A Serendipitous Discovery “We were at the right place,

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  1. A Serendipitous Discovery “We were at the right place, at the right time, with the right telescope, and witnessed history...” For the very first time we caught a star in the act of exploding X-ray Outburst! Image courtesy of Princeton, Gemini Observatories, and NASA

  2. Historically, Supernova Discoveries are Visual Ancient supernova Discovery Chaco Canyon, NM SN 1054 Amateur Astronomers supernova SN1994D, Image courtesy of Challis, Harvard-CfA A supernova shines as bright as a one billion Suns But only one supernova every century Crab nebula, SN 1054 Image courtesy of NASA

  3. Revolutionizing the Discovery + Study of Supernovae • Long-predicted, • but never yet seen • “break out” light • (Colgate, 1974) • exactly at the time of explosion • 1000 x brighter than visual light • lasts just seconds to minutes • only visible in the X-rays • extremely difficult to detect ! Historical Method Visual Light Discovery Time Visual discovery ➔ DELAY (weeks!) between explosion and discovery By then, most of the fireworks are over... (Image courtesy of Dana Berry)

  4. Caught in the Act - The Birth of Supernova 2008D Swift satellite (Image courtesy of NASA) X-ray Visual An X-ray outburst appeared in my Swift data from Jan 9 brighter than 100 billion Suns. Alert the community, steer telescopes The outburst signaled the birth of a new supernova Two supernova in the same galaxy? Chance probability : 1 in 10,000 (very lucky) Alicia Soderberg

  5. The Future is Bright EVERY massive star supernova produces an X-ray outburst Future X-ray telescopes will find hundreds of supernovae each year “Time stamp” provided by X-rays crucial for neutrino & gravitational wave searches X-ray Outburst! Image courtesy of Princeton, Gemini Observatories, and NASA

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