It was a euphoric moment for students at the University of London after they serendipitously spotted a powerful supernova in the M82 galaxy. The supernova is one of the closest to be spotted from Earth in recent decades, say scientists.<\/p>\n
The sky was getting cloudy. <\/p>\n
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Instead of the planned practical astronomy class, Steve Fossey at the University of London Observatory, decided to train four undergrads how to use a CCD camera on one of the observatorys automated 0.35meter telescopes, according to the press release by the University of London. <\/p>\n
The students decided to look at the Messier 82 galaxy, located 12 million light years from Earth. \"It is a very photogenic galaxy and fascinating, so we often look at it,\" Fossey says. <\/p>\n
What followed was a serendipitous discovery of a supernova, an exploding star. <\/p>\n
Working with Dr. Fossey, the students Ben Cooke, Tom Wright, Matthew Wilde, and Guy Pollack spotted the explosion in nearby galaxy Messier 82, the press release stated. <\/p>\n
Fossey and his students noticed a starlike object on the galaxy, which Fosseydid not recognize from previous observations, according to the press release. <\/p>\n
They looked up online archive images of the galaxy, and it appeared that what they were looking at was probably some kind of a new star in the galaxy, the team said in the press release. <\/p>\n
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By chance, astronomy students spot humongous space explosion<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a euphoric moment for students at the University of London after they serendipitously spotted a powerful supernova in the M82 galaxy. The supernova is one of the closest to be spotted from Earth in recent decades, say scientists. The sky was getting cloudy Continue reading