What should I do if I saw a supernova?

Question

I think it was a supernova that I saw the other night. Should I report it? if so, then where? Where can I go to find out if what I say was actually a supernova? Has anyone else ever seen one? How common are they? Any information, links, etc would be appreciated.

Answer 1

http://www.supernovae.net/snimages/snlinks.html

Answer 2

If you think you saw a supernova the other night and it really was one, it would be on all the news, papers, CNN, etc. It would be a VERY BIG deal and all those astronomers that spend their entire lives looking for supernovas would have seen it as well.
A real supernova would be a fast brightening of a star and then it would stay very bright for months. Everyone would know about it.

If you saw a bright light suddenly appear in the night sky for a few minutes, and then fade away, then what you saw was a satellite in orbit around the Earth. The bright light was due to surfaces on the satellite reflecting sunlight for a few minutes (as the angle was just right) to Earth, like a mirror.
Its common enough, but not many people notice these happening.

Answer 3

Why would you think it was a supernova? Are you an astronomer? I would guess not.

What you most likely saw was an Iridium satellite. There are 60 of them orbiting Earth and often one of them can flash brighter than anything in the sky except the sun and moon.

Are you really naive enough to suppose that with all the technology focussed on the sky around the world, and with millions of keen amateur astronomers all eyeballing the sky from all over the world, that you would see something that nobody else would see?

In regard to Iridium satellites that could almost be true, as the flash from one is only seen locally. But then, these thingas are only a few hundred kms away.

A supernova would be light years away, and visible to millions and millions of people observing at night (and for weeks), and to many other detectors during daylight.

Also a naked eye supernova would happen only once or twice in a millenium.

Answer 4

Naked-eye supernovae are quite rare. The last one was in 1987, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and not visible from most of the northern hemisphere. Being nearly 200,000 light years away, it was only fourth magnitude - about as bright as the "handle" stars in the Little Dipper. The last bright one in our galaxy was in 1604. A new one would probably be reported on space.com, nasa.gov, and other space science sites. If what you saw was a supernova, it will still be visible - they stay bright for months.

There are scores of telescopic supernovae every year. SOme are found by amateur supernova hunters who photograph galaxies looking for new stars. CBAT - the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams - is the clearing house for all new astronomical objects. You can see a list of recent supernovae here - http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/lists/RecentSupernovae.html

A brief bright flash in the night sky is probably either a meteor (not all of them show a tail) or a satellite. The Iridium satellites are known for producing "flares" of a few seconds duration, becoming sometimes brighter than Venus.

Answer 5

You would not be the only person that would have witnessed a supernova. In fact you would not be the first to know about it because it would have been detected before the visible light reached the earth. World-wide, several detectors currently running or nearing completion are sensitive to a core collapse supernova neutrino signal in the Milky Way. The neutrino signal emerges promptly from a supernova's core, whereas it may take hours for the first photons to be visible. Therefore, the detection of the neutrino burst from the next Galactic supernova can provide an early warning for astronomers.

Answer 6

If you saw a supernova, you can bet that astronomers saw it too... and they'll be watching it for a while.... especially if you saw it without a telescope.

A star doesn't just flash out of existence in an instant. The explosion takes days... probably weeks.

I believe I read somewhere that a star went nova a few hundred years ago and it was bright enough at night to read by.

I'd call the nearest observatory. Tell them what you saw, when, and where (which direction, and the approximate angle to the horizon).

Answer 7

if it were a supernovae it would still be visible in the sky. It would last for days or weeks. If you saw a very bright light it could have been a meteor or you could have spotted a bollide ( an exploding meteor). They can be exceptionally bright, temporarily illuminating the entire sky. If by some chance you wanted to report your discovery the place to contact would be the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams.

Answer 8

If you saw one, it would still be glowing and the whole world would know about it.

Answer 9

ENJOY A RARE NAKED EYE EVENT.