Pan-STARRS (PS1) first extragalactic detection

[PeterM]

Significantly and in what is expected by be the opening of the flood gates on astronomical discoveries the first Pan- STARRS - PS1 (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response Sytem) located on Mount Haleakala. Maui has made its first extragalactic discovery of a transient object - in this case a supernova designated 2008id at magnitude 23 in a faint host galaxy as reported in CBET1617.
PS1 only came on line fairly recently and will be followed by 3 others by 2012. PS1 will image its entire sky very regularly and many, many new supernova, astreoids, comets, variable stars and pretty much what goes bump in the night are expected to be amongst the discoveries. With other rapid response survey telescopes coming online in the future including Sky Mapper in Australia, it's going to make it more and more challenging for us amateurs to "get lucky".
Vive la revolucion
PeterM

[coldspace]

You can only hope for it to break down for a few weeks mate :lol:.

Matt.

[glenc]

I want one of these scopes!

"A new telescope facility in Hawaii designed to search for asteroids and comets which could threaten Earth has been made operational.
The Pan-STARRS 1 telescope will map large portions of the sky each night to track not only close space objects, but also exploding stars (supernovae).
The telescope has been taking science data for six months but is now operating from dusk-dawn each night.
Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) is expected to map one-sixth of the sky every month.
The facility boasts a huge digital camera: a 1,400 megapixel (1.4 gigapixel) device that can photograph an area of the sky as large as 36 full Moons in a single exposure." PS1 will generate the largest ever multi-colour survey of the cosmos.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10340488.stm

About three quarters of the total sky can be observed from Hawaii, or about 30,000 square degrees. Pan-Starrs will look at about 7 square degrees in each 30 seconds exposure, so in an eight-hour night it will be able to map about 6,000 square degrees. Given that the weather is not always perfect, it will therefore take about a week to survey the whole sky once, using one filter.
http://pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/public/project-status/gallery.html

[allan gould]

Spotting a Mag 23 SN in a faint galaxy - whoa .........that makes it difficult to compete.

[Robh]

Great technology ... 1.4 gigapixel camera!
Technology is adding new life into the sensitivity and usefulness of ground-based scopes as against the more expensive option of sending scopes into space.

Regards, Rob.

[PeterM]

Yup......but not impossible, at least for a few years to come.

PeterM.

[thunderchildobs]

Just the excuse needed so that I can upgrade again.

Brendan

[CometGuy]

Magnitude 23..maybe a 40" scope might do the trick :)

I've been following progress on Pan-Starrs and I know it hasn't been smooth sailing for them as they have had quite a few technical issues with the scope and camera. On top of that there are 12 science teams competing for time with the scope. As an example only 5% of the survey's time is allocated to NEO searches, not sure what the breakdown is for supernova searches.

I'm sure once it gets going it will really be impressive.

Terry

[PeterM]

[QUOTE=CometGuy;605558]Magnitude 23..maybe a 40" scope might do the trick :)

I should have worded that better (note to self, reread post before press send) Yup, mag23 beyond us, well for now anyway. My limit would be around mag 17.7(r).

When these 'scopes (incl SkyMapper etc) rally start to crank up the volume with mag 23 and fainter discoveries it may make the going a bit tough for the amateur SN discoverer just as CCDers have made it tough for visual discoveries. But I don't think impossible that amateurs will still make new discoveries pushing the limits of their equipment, despite what may seem overwhelming odds, that is what the amateur astronomer "just does" and you yourself Terry are a very fine example of this with your comet discoveries.

PeterM.