Astronomers Awaiting 1a Supernova

Aryabhata writes to tell us BBC News is reporting that astronomers have sighted a star on the brink of a "1a" supernova. This opportunity presents the first chance astronomers have ever had to view a supernova of this magnitude up close. From the article: "They are so rare that the last one known in our galaxy was seen in 1572 by the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who first coined the term nova, for "new star", not realizing he was in fact witnessing the violent end of an unknown star. It has long been believed that type 1a supernovae are the death throes of a white dwarf star. But all modern ones have been so distant that it has not been possible to see what had been there beforehand."

Comments

Wait for it...

[0racle]

Any decade now.

That's nice

[guardiangod]

/. Headline: Astronomers Awaiting 1a Supernova

From TFA:
But soon, RS Oph could pass the tipping point - the nuclear flame will detonate from deep inside the star and blow it apart. How soon is not clear.

"It could be tomorrow, but most likely it'll be 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 years from now," says Jeno Sokoloski.

Wow that's some long life astronomers. I wonder if they will be around to see DNF getting release.

Stupid headline.

Meh, I mean come on

[antifoidulus]

version 1a? They aren't even in beta yet!

This supernova should be interesting

[Baloo Ursidae]

I've never seen a star go supernova before. But if it's anything like my old Chevy Nova, it'll light up the night sky!

Re:CNN Story is different...

[Andy Gardner]

This would be a SUPERNOVA, when the white dwarf within the binary system actually explodes from within.

So that would be like eating a vindaloo and lighting farts.

Re:It would be nice if we got one....

[niktemadur]

Wikipedia lists ones occuring in our galaxy in 1006, 1054, 1181, 1572, 1604, and I remember from other sources that several were observed during Roman times.

Isn't that typical. Before the telescope, there was a frickin' smorgasboard of supernovae at close range, then no sooner does man invent the telescope and the party's over, which draws me to the conclusion: I blame this supernovae drought on Galileo.