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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the was-it-a-boy-or-a-girl? dept.

Submitted via IRC for FatPhil

An amateur astronomer has captured the birth of a supernova while trying out his new camera. Scientists believe this could be the first time anyone has photographed the initial flashing of a supernova—a phase which can last just minutes.

Researchers think the serendipitous snaps offer unique insights into the evolution of supernova, which are usually only pictured after this brief "shock breakout" phase. A new analysis of the surge of light is published in Nature this week.

[...] The discovery was monumental not just for Buso but astronomy as a whole. Researchers Melina Bersten and Gastón Folatelli, part of the team investigating the supernova in the Nature paper, told Newsweek these chance photos could be the first of their kind.

"We actually think this is the first time an observer recorded the appearance of a supernova literally on camera. Some supernova have been discovered hours after explosion. But, Victor Buso caught the exact minutes when the supernova was being born," Bersten said. Not only that, she added, but he had captured the evolution of this elusive phase.

Source: http://www.newsweek.com/supernova-birth-photograph-amateur-815041


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  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:32AM (1 child)

    by Immerman (3985) on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:32AM (#641623)

    Very little of Science is. The Method is how you verify what you've discovered/imagined via other means.

    The Method is what keeps it honest, so that you can confidently build on what came before, but it's not what drives things forward.

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  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday February 22 2018, @07:40PM

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Thursday February 22 2018, @07:40PM (#641937) Journal

    Not necessarily. The method can also be (as this may be an example of) gathered data that supports something that was already hypothesized, or something that falsifies an established hypothesis. Theory-Observe-Question-Hypothesize / Predict - Data - Refinement loop / Repetition of results - Back to Theory. It is a cycle which the closure of the loop inspires new theory and therefore does drive science forward.

    This is presented as part of data phase for known issues concerning supernova birth, and potentially observation concerning certain aspect of the shockwave.

    Very much within the method.

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