Update: I added a picture below of the three folks involved with this blog entry; in my rush to post this last night from the Las Vegas airport I forgot to add it initially!
In a recent blog entry, I said that a lot of deals in astronomy (and science in general) are done at bars. Something about the atmosphere, the collegiality, the sense of comrades; they lubricate the gears of progress.
I wasn’t kidding. I just literally sat through it.
If you’re an amateur astronomer, you know the name Tim Puckett: his images of the sky are legendary. He’s an artist when it comes to taking pictures of astronomical images. He runs a fleet of telescopes from his base in Georgia. He has ‘scopes all over the country, and people to operate them.
The other night, Tim got a phone call from one of his operators. In a routine imagining run, they found a bright star in an image of a galaxy, and when they checked old images it wasn’t there. They checked to see if it might be an asteroid, a chunk of rock a mile or two across that happened to get in the way. The check turned up nothing.
The operator was getting excited. Was it a supernova, the titanic death spasm of a massive star? They needed to confirm it using a different telescope, preferably one as far from the original as possible to minimize any errors. Unfortunately there were no other well-placed ‘scopes in Tim’s network, so the operator called him.
And where was Tim? Sitting in a bar with a dozen other astronomers! At the time, there was a meeting of astronomers and educators going on. It was after hours, and the scientists had gathered at a bar to blow off steam. This turned out very well for Tim indeed…
Gina Brissenden was sitting next to him — she’s part of "Out of the Rain Productions" – and overheard. She told Tim that her friend Jake Noell-Storr – who was also there at the bar — might be able to help. Jake had the phone number for the operations room of the MDM telescope, a 2.4 meter behemoth in Arizona. Jake made the call, and handed the phone back to Gina.
Gina introduced herself as an astronomer from Steward observatory, and asked if the folks at MDM could give Tim a hand. The answer? Of course!
This is the wonderfulness of astronomy: those professional astronomers stopped what they were doing so they could help some amateur astronomers they don’t even know to confirm a supernova. They got the coordinates from Tim and put the ‘scope on the field immediately. Within minutes he got the word back from MDM that there was definitely a bright star in the field. A few minutes later another call came in: they checked old records, and the star wasn’t there. It was looking good—not 100% confirmed, but it was pretty much a lock. Tim had bagged a supernova!
Remember: this was discovered by what is technically an "amateur" astronomer, and confirmed within minutes — just because they asked! — by a major professional observatory.
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Spirits ran high after that. Literally, in fact, as Gina went to the bartender, told him the news, and asked him to create a new drink called a Supernova.
If you’re wondering how I know all this, the answer should be fairly obvious by now: I was sitting right there the whole time. I didn’t participate, but instead soaked it all up (for the record, the Supernova drinks didn’t come out until after 1:00 a.m., and I had a 7:30 meeting so I bagged on the drinks). The next day, the supernova was indeed confirmed for real, and was at a magnitude of 17.4 when discovered– about 20,000 times fainter than you can see with your unaided eye.
Imagine! This galaxy, this nearly anonymous galaxy a few hundred million light years away might be thought to have no direct impact on us on Earth. But a mighty star in that distant galaxy ran out of fuel, exploded, and flooded the Universe with light. Across that crushing distance the expanding sphere of photons expanded, diluting as it spread out. By the time the that sphere touched us here, even big telescopes were only able to catch and count a few thousand photons.
That’s not enough light to illuminate a gnat, but it was enough to have a profound effect on us.
September 18th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
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September 19th, 2006 at 12:03 am
He’s an artist when it comes to taking pictures of astronomical images.
He photographs photographs??
That must’ve been one amazing night at the bar! Congrats to Mr.Puckett and his team.
September 19th, 2006 at 12:29 am
Ha, if I had any doubts about that story’s veracity, they would have been laid to rest by the part about the new drink! Pure Gina. Ask her for me if she remembers the Guanabanator.
September 19th, 2006 at 12:30 am
A few thousands photons does not have not have a lot of power, but they can still push a few drinks.
September 19th, 2006 at 12:45 am
but what is the recipe of the drink?
September 19th, 2006 at 1:42 am
I’d love to see a similar scenario in a book or movie.
September 19th, 2006 at 2:12 am
“…but it was enough to have a profound effect on us.”
- especially those who dug into the Supernova-drinks, I imagine
September 19th, 2006 at 3:07 am
=====
But a mighty star in that distant galaxy ran out of fuel, exploded, and flooded the Universe with light.
=====
Type II??
September 19th, 2006 at 5:41 am
=========
That’s not enough light to illuminate a gnat, but it was enough to have a profound effect on us.
=========
Which is another way of saying you all “got lit up”, as the kids say
September 19th, 2006 at 6:53 am
[...] “Supernova“, no Bad Astronomy. Um bom exemplo da colaboração entre astrónomos amadores e profissionais, uma relação que, por exemplo em Portugal, podia ser bem melhor, com benefÃcios para ambos; [...]
September 19th, 2006 at 7:44 am
*That’s not enough light to illuminate a gnat, but it was enough to have a profound effect on us.*
Don’t tell the astrologers.
September 19th, 2006 at 8:30 am
Sorta related, I heard on the radio last week that folks who socialize in bars with coworkers have significantly larger paychecks than teetotalers. (http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/09/14/PM200609144.html)My dad pointed out that they need the extra income to pay their bar tabs…
September 19th, 2006 at 8:57 am
All kinds of geeks are like this, though. I’ve seen similar behavior from computer geeks and book geeks. Most of us understand that astronomy is a vast, vast enterprise and that the pros and the amatures have GOT to work together. It’s great that they did in this instance.
September 19th, 2006 at 9:50 am
[quote]Across that crushing distance the expanding sphere of photons expanded,[/quote]
But did it expand?
September 19th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
I remember reading in one of Feynman’s books (possibly “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman) that he did quite a bit of work in a strip club.
September 19th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Absolutley breathtaking!!
Now, while I have some attention:
I need to conduct 3000 word report on any science subject I like. Now, my main interest lies in astronomy. My report has to be in the form of a question and must be to A-Level standard (I think that’s High School graduation in America).
Any ideas on the sort of questions I could evaluate?
I know this may seem like cheating but I have no idea of an experiment I can carry out with a tiny telescope in my garden!!
Thatnks for reading
September 19th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Yes…zymurgy can help promote astronomy.
Zymurgy:
The science of brewing beer.
September 19th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Nice being at the right place at the right time.
When I was in grad school, my thesis advisor and I were on both scopes at MDM. He got a call about one of the early gamma ray bursts. Sure enough, there was a bright “star” one night and not there the next night!
Next time, Tim Puckett should contact Joe Patterson who runs the Center for Backyard Astrophysics amateur network. They mostly observe cataclysmic variables, but I’m sure a few of them would peek at a supernova. That network spans the globe.
September 20th, 2006 at 5:30 am
well, where is it??!!?!
September 20th, 2006 at 5:33 am
Supernovas give you a warm fuzzy feeling…
I don’t really have a lot to add, but I wanted to link to Phil Plait’s entry about the discovery of a new supernova. It’s a great story about how science gets done by real people. I should add that,……
September 20th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Well, BA, when you have a 7:30 am meeting that’s really 4:30 am for you as a west-coaster, you’ll only need 4 hours of sleep when you have a shot of Supernova, or is it, “a shot of a supernova”? As Supernova cares not for our silly-tiredness-of-travel-and-meetings-that-are-too-early thingedness! It was a little too sweet, the drink, for me to rate it on my top five, but I’d throw it in (not up) to my top ten. I still don’t know what was in that yellowish explosion of hard alcohol, though (thanks Gina).
September 20th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
For those of you who were there, helping confirm Tim’s supernova was one of the coolest things I ever done at a bar!! Way to go, team!!!
As for the drink… Well, we had to start with two kinds of brown alcohol–and for those of you who know me, you also know I hate (no, HATE!) brown alcohol. But this was Tim’s night, and Tim’s favorites are scotch and Drambuie. Also, the bartender made shots, so there was no ice and no garnish (gasp, shock). I agree it was a bit sweet, but 2:00 in the morning anyone still capable of complaining obviously wasn’t in the spirit of the night
So…
Tim’s Supernova
2 pt scotch
2 pt Drambuie
1 pt peach schnapps
Splash of 7-Up
Cherry and peach wedge for garnish
As is true for all our cocktails, serve over ice in a highball glass. And as is also true for all our cocktails, this is suitable for making by the pitcher.
Happy Supernova,
Gina
(your humble mixmeister)
September 20th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
PS. And to “supernova” who asked about the Guanabanator… Only a select few have ever enjoyed this fine cocktail. Who are you?
September 20th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Very cool story!!
Tales from the White Hart?
September 21st, 2006 at 10:33 am
Gina B. Rocks,
A cool network of astronomers,
If you have not been to one of Gina’s parties, they are not to be missed.
Bottoms Up !