Flashback: SN1987A

[von Tom]

I was going through some old prints of mine and found a shot I took of the Supernova SN1987A in the LMC. I was 16 at the time at Downer in Canberra. The shot is over my house with a new Tasco 3T-RB 3" Newtonian in the foreground, and taken with a Pertri Racer rangefinder camera 45mm f/2.8. This was taken shortly after the discovery.

I remember on the night of discovery when I was lining up on the Tarantula Nebula in my x30mm finderscope (which was always a bit of a struggle to find), but for some reason I could find it quite easily that night. Before I could figure out why, I a bright light source in the sky over in Gemini caught my eye and I immediately thought "supernova!". Alas it was only a bright satellite, and I didn't return to the Tarantula to finish my train of thought. The moment of discovery had passed.

I would love to see any other pics or memories from the time. : )

Cheers,
Tom

[astroron]

Hi Tom, no pictures here but I had my first Doh!:rolleyes: moment in Astronomy.
I had been in astronomy just over 7 months when I took my 60mm Jason Refractor to a field night with the Astronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ) at at a disused grave yard at Marburg/ Minden:question: in February 1987.
A fellow named Charllie Smith asked if anyone wanted to have a look at the Supernova through his 80mm long focal length Refractor:question:
I was at the front of the queue :Dbut not knowing what a supernova was marveled out loud;) at all the stuff coming of the supernova :eyepop: only to be informed that that was the Tarantula Nebula I was looking at and the bright orange star next to it was the supernova:ashamed:
I followed the supernova for quite a few months after that in my little Refractor from my home in Burpengary North of Brisbane
and indirectly started my interest into supernova searching:thumbsup:
A great memory and a cool photo.
Cheers
PS maybe this could be put in the observational astronomy or General Chat thread as more people may see it and comment:question:

[strongmanmike]

Hi Tom

I worked at the Dickson Tradies Club at the Canberra Observatory then, I was then aged 20 and showed thousands of people the New Star in the sky that wasn't there the night before, it was a magical time and wowed people more than Halleys Comet really - the object that had sparked the Tradies to invest in the Public Observatory 2 years earlier.

Great photo you have there and a cool memory of a truly unique object in the sky!

Mike

[von Tom]

Great memories guys.

Mod, can this thread be moved to Observational or General Chat?

Cheers,

Tom

[ballaratdragons]

Fantastic photo Tom :)
Thanks for bringing it to memory again :thumbsup:

I remember 1987A very well.

I was amazed at how long it lasted. It was clearly visible 'naked eye' for months!
I was a member of the Ballarat Astro Society back then and we all made sure we showed every visitor the Supernova.

Unfortunately around 99% of them said things like "oh, ok (ho-hum :rolleyes: ), now show us Saturn or Jupiter :) "

:lol: No pleasing some people, but I loved it :thumbsup:

[Ric]

A great image Tom

I remember it well.

[Paul Haese]

I was observing the night after the day it was discovered. As I recall it was discovered during our day. I noted that a very bright star was in a part of the sky where one should not be. I thought I had discovered something but I learned later that night that it had been discovered by someone else many hours before. :(

It brought people into the Brisbane Astronomical Society but after a few weeks it was old news really. I don't think I have any film images of it. It was sort of exciting but not as exciting as comet Halley.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Some history on the discovery:thumbsup:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A
Cheers

[von Tom]

Wiki on the co-discoverer Ian Shelton:

[Suzy]

I was 22 years when I saw it and what a sight it was, I'll never forget it. My father and I use to watch it together. The bathroom window had a clear to view to it so I didn't even have to go outside if I didn't feel like it. :lol:

Many thanks for posting the pic and taking me down memory lane. :) What a fabulous keepsake!

[ZeroID]

Shot of Comet McNaught taken from our local volcano summit with KM Dynax 7D and 135mm lens before I got back into it.