The 25th Anniversary of SN1987A: 24th February 2012.

[Suzy]

Big day tomorrow!!!


IT'S THE 25th Anniversary date of SN1987A: 24th February 1987.


It's here, it's here, it's FINALLY here!!!!!!!!! :party:

Get out the party poppers, light those sparklers, grab the champagne, let's all do cartwheels, woooooohooooooooooooooooooooo :clap:

Can you tell I'm excited??? :P


Many of us will remember that magical, memorable time when we looked up into the sky and there it was- a naked eye brightly visible supernova in the LMC galaxy. And it was all to ourselves way down here in the southern hemisphere, making northerners green with envy. :P

This was also the brightest supernova seen from Earth naked eye, since the supernova of 1604AD.
And! It also taught us for the first time, that a star doesn't need to be an aged orange giant- this was the first ever known case of an LBV going supernova.
This SN explosion also taught us that for the first time, a star doesn't need to be an aged orange giant- this was the first ever know case of an LBV going supernova.



Now Tom (username von Tom), I know you fully expect me to yet again use your fabulous pic (it's my most special astro pic ever that Tom let me have):D, so here it is. Isn't it just fabulous and the best keepsake ever?! Even David Darling wanted it from me for his website :D.
109667

And you'll should really watch this fantastic doco done in 1987 on this SN. It interviews all the people involved in the discovery and observations of this event. It is a fantastic doco, please I urge you, do watch it, you won't be disappointed. It's a NOVA-PBS doco and they do some mighty fine quality docos. :thumbsup:

NOVA-PBS- Death of a Star (SN1987A)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnwIb9zBx24)

[Suzy]

I've started celebrating already. Having waaaay too much wine, getting waaay over excited.
Is it just me or are others embracing this event too. :ashamed::lol:

[Suzy]

Okay, so you know whfat, just incasse you didn'tt phknow, don't questions any pfosts i do ere in the next 24hrs eeeeespecially ones that are fussopsed to be helping beginners okay aaaaaghh *hick*.
bye have go now.

[jjjnettie]

hee hee hee Go Suzy!!
Yes, a very special reason to celebrate.

[Jen]

:lol::lol: lol Suzy can i have some of what your having LOL LOL :D

:drink:

[Octane]

Drink and Internet. You could be next.

H

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Suzy, a great Doco :thumbsup:

I remember 1987A very well. It was sooooo bright and it was easily visible for months.
It is one of those special events that has planted itself in my memory. I can still easily visualise what I saw :)

:cheers: *Hic* :rofl:

[bartman]

Hehehehe I do the same.....I wish I had a lock out system ( you know like they have for cars?) for the times when I have a few and decide to post silly posts or facebook dunk!
What did I do last night again? oh thats right , I took a bunch of pictures of a hole in the ground and asked what it was and then proceeded to take a bunch more pics of cheese and chalk to enter the photo comp:confused2::screwy:
Ah whatever.....

Getting back to topic...thanks for the link Suzy! In 87 I ( we my family) were going through some interesting times and never knew about the SN happening......sadly...:(
Any hoo....I'll have a gander tomorrow ( clouds permitting - yes we have them here in WA at times too :P)
Cheers
Bartman

[gary]

Hi Suzy,

Time passes rapidly.

I remember at the time, a friend at the AAT telling me that at a staff meeting in
Epping, they had a brief moment of silence for "any life forms that may have
been in the death zone" before getting on with drawing up plans for the change
of schedule to observe it.

[Suzy]

Nettie, :lol: aye, a great reason to celebrate. :thumbsup: Sheeez, I just realised I'll be around 70 when the 50th anniversary comes around. :rolleyes:

Jen, Yalumba cask wine, 13 bucks for two litres. :lol:
Also, a very handy bino viewing head cushion. :rolleyes: Tis amazing how far $13 can take one if one is creative. :P

H, yeah everyone, what he said. Always remember, no one is safe. Ever. :P :lol:

Bart, I had absolutely no lock out system in place last night as I was home alone ....:computer: :drink: I didn't think making me look better could have been possible, until you mentioned your story. :P Now I don't feel so bad. :lol: Thanks for admitting that, you're very brave. :whistle: When's your 2,000th post btw :question: teehee.

Ken, thanks for your contribution. I too remember it like it was yesterday. I have to thank my father for that- I was only 22 at the time, he made me aware of the significance and we would watch it together. I didn't even have to go outside to see it as the bathroom window had it clearly in view. :eyepop:
I've often wondered how long it was actually visible for naked eye. I thought it was only something like 3 wks, but can't really remember as it was so long ago and was quite young. Was that "months" naked eye visible?

Steve, that is is awesome that you were actually imaging the LMC - how timely! Pleeeeeease would you let me have your photo? I did all my "drinking" celebrating last night thinking there might be a chance of me to do a tour with my scope of the LMC tonight, and being Qld, it's pouring with rain and I'm disappointed I can't even do that. :( I don't care about the quality- meaning if it didn't fully work out or whatever, what matters to me is a keepsake of a photograph on it's anniversary.. if that makes sense? :prey:

Gary, your post REALLY made me think.
I'd never ever thought about it from that angle.
That's very profound! Thank you so much for opening my eyes and making me think. That will stay with me forever actually. ;)


Well... I sure hope some of you'll get to cruise the LMC tonight and celebrate this wonderful anniversary.

What does one do to compensate this special day that's ruined by rain I ask you... :mad2: Any ideas, I'm at a loss :question: at least the cricket match between Aussie & S.L is providing entertainment - creaming you guys as usual, so far 2/144 :P:P:P :lol: The match is won already. :violin:

[Lester]

I can remember it well Suzy, had photographed the LMC before and during that exciting time with gas hypered Konica film. Back then us few country amateurs did this great hobby alone, the internet has changed all that for the better.

You can have your extra wine; I just had an extra bowl of fruit and ice-cream.

All the best.

[Ian Cooper]

Hey Suzy,

cheers for the reminder, as if I could ever really forget! I have had a few other things on my mind lately so this did sneek up on me.

It was 40 years ago tonight that I took the train up to Auckland from old Palmy Town to see Led Zeppelin. I was just a mere 14.5 orbits old and had just learnt a few constellations via school at the time. My first venture into astronomy.

My dad paid for the return train ticket $9.00 (1,000km round trip). My 16 year old brother living and working in Auckland at the time paid for the concert ticket of $4.10 (the cheap seats were $3.50 & $3.10). I took $3.00 pocket money with me and came home with 20c change!Life wasn't cheap, but the living sure was!!

25 years ago tonight my great friend Noel Munford and I were photographing in the LMC once again, but having photographed the Tarantula three times earlier we skipped that area to photograph N 55! Them's the breaks! My old mate Albert Jones who shares the same birthday as me BTW, was more onto it and spotted the 'intruder.'

Some of my other mates in Dunedin, who shall stay nameless due to their eternal shame, photographed SN 1987A on the 23rd, but film being what it was then, they hadn't finished the film off that night and still had it in the camera when the announcements came through. Oh Shucks, nevermind!

Anyway here is one of my favourites from April 6th that year that Noel and I took. This was about half way from the outburst to the peak brightness on May 22nd, 1987.

Photo details: 1987.04.06, 30 minutes on Gas Hypersensitized Fuji D100 Slide Film, 30 cm F/7 Newtonian, Manawatu Observatory, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Keep celebrating Suzy. A momentus night for sure.

Cheers

Coops

[stephenb]

Along with Comet Halley, Horsehead and Pluto, I hold SN1987a as the most memorable astronomical event I have observed and photographed. I recall taking some widefield astrophotos of the SCP the previous week (photo 1) and when the SN appeared the following week I discovered my Olympus OM10 had developed a shutter problem. I recall racing to the local camera shop in Bendigo where they took a fortnight to repair it.

I have three surviving photos of SN1987 (photos 2, 3 & 4): Its brightness peaked in May with an apparent magnitude of about +3 and slowly declined in the months after.

I pointed the scope at SN1987a almost every night to say 'hello' to it.

My estimates on that April 2nd night have SN1987a at magnitude +3.7. The LMC is clearly seen in a 2-7 o'clock position. SN1987a is the brightest star in the centre of field with NGC 2070 (Tarantula Nebula) is the small red object just above.

The three film exposures were taken from Chewton, Australia using an Olympus OM-10, Olympus 18-55mm lens, ISO n/k, 30sec, 02/04/1987. No other image or film details are known.

I have also attached front pages from three magazines at the time:

1. Southern Astronomy's first issue - April/May 1987. This country's first real attempt at a local magazine with an article on the possible demise of the VNG time signal (who remembers using it for occultations etc?)

2. Time Magazine - March 23 1987

3. Sky and Telescope - May 1987

If anyone wants me to scan the articles I am more than happy to post them as long as there are no copyright issues.

[kinetic]

Here ya go Suzy, warts and all.
Full size image from last night (approx 3am, 24th Feb), gum tree at right,
shadow of the scope at bottom I am piggybacked on, dome shutter shadows top right and bottom left.
Gradients all over the place!

Steve

[Suzy]

Lester, it sure must have been a lonely hobby back then, and so expensive and so much time waiting for prints to develop, boy we've come a long way for sure. Don't worry, I already had my extra glass of wine- it is fruit after all- fruit is good for you. :P Actually it's the only "fruit" I consume aside from bananas.:question:

Ian and Stephen,
I'm a total loss for words and honestly if you could have seen the look on my face when I saw these pictures.. my jaw is still stuck to the ground. I'm in absolute in AWE of these pics & magazines posted here- you guys really have made my day. And I was feeling so down that I couldn't observe the LMC tonight and it's just really made up for it.

Ian, your pic is like nothing I've ever seen from an amateur telescope, I'm frozen as I type. It's not to say that there aren't pics out there, I don't know, but yours is the first close up WOW factor one that I've ever seen from an amateur telescope. It's very special. Do you mind if I keep a copy of your pic and can I share it on facebook?
I've just made it my desktop background. :D
You told that story so well of your concert - 1,000kms on a train, how keen was that! Aye, I can't believe how cheap stuff was. Nowadays an average concert is like $150 min. Thanks for the great story, really enjoyed it. :thumbsup:

Stephen, please, I would love those articles!
Would you mind emailing them, that way I guess you're not putting them on the internet re copyright issues. When you send a msg to me it gives the option for pm or email. :D
Thank you so much!!!!
Wow! Bestest anniversary ever! Woooooooohooooooooooo!
Seriously, why is there no cartwheel emoticon :shrug:

I'm really appreciating everyone here on this thread getting into the anniversary spirit and sharing your stories and pictures, it really does help commemorate the occasion. Thank you.

So WHO actually out there has got a pic of Sanduleak??? :question:
I want it.:D

[Suzy]

Just found some pics of Sanduleak.

This one here is the last picture E.S.O. took of the LMC a few hours before the SN explosion. The date shows as 23rd, but that would be the date difference of our countries.
109731


And here is another pic of Sanduleak, more clearly shown and marked, also taken by E.S.O.
109732

[Suzy]

S T E V E !!!!!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Well okay, you kind of took me literally didn't you. :P:lol:

Here, you need this book more than I do ;) :P
109733



Haha sorry I couldn't resist :lol:
You know I'm grateful and was after anything really.;)
I now feel like I got to see the LMC on it's anniversay. Thankyou!

[stephenb]

Hi Suzy, I'll send you a PM later today and I'll get them to you. I have been meaning to scan all my astronomy magazine from when I first became interested in the early 1980's. This will give me an reason to start!

[Ian Cooper]

Hi Suzy,

I have no problems with what you wish to do with that pic. Just as long as you also credit Noel Munford with it as well.

I thought that you might like to see some of our other efforts as well. They are all scans off photos, so some of them are a bit rough after 25 years. Most of the damage was done in the early years before I knew how to look after them better. I must scan the negs and come up with a better digital set than this. Just another project to tackle soon I guess.

You wanted a pic of Sanduleak before the explosion. It just so happens that on the very first night that we had ouer Society's 12 inch up and running for photography, in time for Halley BTW, we photographed the Tarantula. The film we used was rubbish for astrophotogrphy but we were really only checking the tracking at that stage. Fortunately of the three images we took of the Tarantula prior to Feb 24th 1987, this one had the pre-cursor star in it (arrowed in the picture) taken on Dec 11th, 1985.

The next photo taken 25 years ago tonight shows how blue the S.N. was at first. The colour changed to a beautiful yellow in April & May when it peaked, before going orange and then red as it faded. These changes made it fascinating to follow down to our last photo on March 9th, 1989.

I have also included two versions of one of our widefield shots showing how the S.N. looked to the naked-eye. The second one arrows the S.N. and circles the star (Gamma Hydri) that was equal in brightness to the S.N. at its brightest.
Great memories!

Coops

[Suzy]

Thanks Stephen, appreciate it. :thumbsup:
Really? All of them... wow that sounds like a lot of work. I'm about to bite the bullet and start ripping out the observing pages as they'd serve me better in a folder where they'd be of more use rather than buried and forgotten. AS&T mags as well. That's going to hurt.. rip rip rip.:sadeyes:

If you didn't already know, you can buy the complete collection of Astronomy Magazine from 1973 to 2010 on dvd for $149.95.

[stephenb]

Suzy I only have Astronomy and S&T from 1983-1989 so I'm happy to scan them on rainy days.

Oh and don't worry I'm not sending whole magazines to you :lol:

Ian your photos are brilliant. Thanks for sharing. Like yourself, I never managed my photos very well in the early days. I'm still finding photos stored away i didnt know I had :rolleyes: Thank goodness for Photoshop-type programs these days.

I always regret not taking more better photos during those special events.

[Suzy]

:shrug:Fresh in from Siding Spring Observatory- it's a good read....

http://www.astronnewsroom.com/2012/02/25th-anniversary-of-sn1987a/

All the references I'm reading lately say 23rd, but my Astronomy Australia 2012 book says 24th.

[Suzy]

Oooops! I nearly forgot to post this fantastic video by ESO's Very Large Telescope. It's a cruise through the Tarantula Nebula where it happened. Make sure you'll watch it- it's really good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5dEFSSKHYE

[stephenb]

Great video there, thanks Suzy.

SN1987a has also been my long-standing avatar on IIS.

[Greg Bock]

HI Suzy and all,
FWIW, I started astrophotography during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, so by the time that SN1987A went bang, i only had about 12 months of practice in the dark old days of film....

So, this was quite an exciting event to be able to photograph, but the result was disappointing.

11 minutes on 400ISO Ektachrome, 200mm F3.5 telephoto lens from Redland Bay near Brisbane on 27 February 1987.

[Suzy]

Ian, :jawdrop:
I can't believe I missed your last post- it appears we posted around the same time with your post being the last one on page1 and mine on page 2.

Thank you so much for all those fabulous pictures! :eyepop: They are soooo special and you even got Sandaleuk :scared2: and all pics taken the old fashioned way thru film too :scared2:.

The celebration anniversary of sn1987a surely doesn't get any better than this - such fantastic contributions here from you guys. I will to keep this thread close to my heart always.

And yes, of course I will credit Noel Munford as well. :thumbsup:


Stephen,
Thanks so much- I got all the emails :D
Re your avatar- It is indeed worthy! I hadn't realised before that the sn was in it, so now I get it! :lol:

[Suzy]

Gosh Greg, you've been photographing for quite some time then!
Hey, even tho you might be a critic unto yourself as you were learning - anything taken of that special event at the time is indeed very special. But, good grief- what events (Halley's & this sn) to start your way into astro-photography.

Thank you so much for sharing your picture - every pic is a special one!

It's quite amazing how bright it is next to gamma Hydri isn't it, your pic shows that up really well!

[Liz]

before my astronomical time, alas, how exciting would it be now!!!

[Greg Bock]

Yes liz, it would be absolutely fantastic given the imaging technology we have now by comparison!!!

[Ian Cooper]

Suzy,

regarding the confusion over what date S.N 1987A was discovered, one must remember that the two co-discoverers were based in Chile (Ian Shelton) and New Zealand (Albert Jones). For Ian Shelton it was still the 23rd, while for my old mate Albert it was the 24th!

Mystery solved!

Cheers

Ian

[Suzy]

AAAAHA!

Thanks heaps Ian. :thumbsup:

[Suzy]

Whoa, take a look at this pic of the sn1987a remnant!

Taken by Marcus Davies on January 2011 using a Tak 6" APO (1100mm FL).

Strongman Mike pointed me to the pic. :thumbsup:


http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/132258981/original

[stephenb]

What! That little thing?? :lol: I actually feel quite sorry for that star now :sadeyes: Seriously, that is a great image :thumbsup:

[clive milne]

Actually.... it's the one hundred and seventy five thousand and twenty fifth anniversary, give or take... ;)

[astroron]

I missed this thread on my two favorite astronomical phenomina , Comet Shoemaker levy 9 being the other one, due to not having any internet for a few weeks:mad2:
What a great celebration thread:)
Thanks for starting it Suzy, it brought back great memories:)
Some great pics posted.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Tamtarn]

Thanks Suzy for starting this thread.

I hadn't heard of the supernova before as it happened before I was into Astronomy. The documentary was fascinating and informative and I found myself absolutely glued to the screen. :thumbsup:

It must have been such an awe inspiring sight to see and I can understand why you were so excited.

Great job once again Suzy!

Barb

[Suzy]

Ron,
Glad to have you back.:thumbsup:
I can't believe you weren't here when this thread was running as I know it was one your most treasured astro memories.:P Oh well, I think the anniversary is good for a whole month as we got to enjoy it for weeks anyway. :D


Barb,
I'm so glad you enjoyed that documentary, certainly is a favourite of mine.
And thank you so much for the kind words- thanks to the wonderful contributions of some people on this thread, it sure has made the anniversary celebration a great one!

I'm really disappointed about something though :(
I wish I had realised that (of course!) Australian Sky & Telescope magazine would be running a 1987A anniversary article (which they did!). Greg Bryant spotted my pic on facebook that I got from Tom Harradine (posted here earlier on page 1 of the naked eye SN) and said pity it would have made a good addition for the anniversary article :( and then I realised whoa! Ian Coopers brilliant pic of the exploding SN (also shown here on this thread) would have just made their jaws drop. I got him to send it in anyway (which he has now) so am sure they'll use with glee in another issue some time. To see those pictures in the magazine sure would have helped make it so much more special! Drats wish I could rewind time.:rolleyes: Wonder where I'll be for the 50th anniversary.. wonder if I'll still have my wits about me...:question: I now have to remember those two pics for 25 years... :help:

[von Tom]

Sorry I missed the start of the SN1987A party Suzy! Great thread and great memories. I have found a couple of other pics of the Supernova and Comet Wilson in early May 1987 from Canberra. Both shot with a Petri Racer rangefinder camera, 45mm, f/2.8, 1000ASA, 30 sec (most probably ;) )

Tom

[Suzy]

Tom!
Had I known you had more pics of sn1987A I would have hounded you for them aaaages ago! Fantastic! And thankyou!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D

Many apologies for taking so long to get back to this thread.:ashamed:

[MrB]

Wow, hard to believe it has been 25 years.
I can remember being 11 standing in the backyard and looking up nightly to see it. Can even remember my kid-style attempts at making a telescope to see it better. One of those was attempting to use a CD as a mirror, with a bolt and nut thru the hole in an attempt to pull it to focus! It failed ofcourse! Haha.
Halley the previous year got me interested, but it was SN1987a and my childish attempts at building a telescope that got me hooked on astronomy.

[Suzy]

Impressive Simon!
Oh my gosh and I just realised that cds back then were ridiculously expensive so someone probably got into t*r*o*u*b*l*e :lol:.
That was a wonderful story. I'm guessing that you ended up making your own telescope eventually :question:

[astroron]

Simon, it is so depressing to think it is 25 years :sadeyes:
I some times wonder where all those years have gone:help:
I didn't know they had CD'S back then:question:
I was still using Cassette tapes and records :rolleyes: :lol:
Cheers :thumbsup:

[Suzy]

They cost lots of money $$$ back then Ron- not a lot of people had them. I knew of them around from my memory 1986 (one of my friends had one)- I don't know how far back from there they were available in Australia.

[MrB]

Haha no, the CD survived and was still playable, infact, I still listen to it! (see reply to Ron)
Yes I did end up making a scope eventually, including grinding and polishing the primary 6" mirror.


Yes it is kinda depressing. In some ways I wish I could go back with the knowledge and experience I have now.
Yep, CD's were around but rare. I first saw/heard them when mum took me to an Electronics convention in '84 or '85 (it was also the first time I saw a laser beam... which turned into another passion... I later built a HeNe gas laser too, successfully, while at high school and got my science teacher hooked on lasers too! This was before solid state laser diodes)
Mum (who was single, studying and only working part-time) saved up and bought our first CD player in '86. From memory it cost her about $1500 in '86 dollars :eyepop: Not sure what that would be equivalent to in todays money, but it was a hell of a lot for her! It was more than she paid for the car at the time! She still has that player, but it needs a new drive belt.

The first CD I got(and tried to use as a mirror) was Brothers In Arms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_in_Arms_(Dire_Straits_albu m)) by Dire Straits, which was released in '85 and was the first CD to sell more than a million copies worldwide. Mum bought it for me when she bought the player.

[astroron]

Great memories indeed there Simon,:)
I think I probably didn't get my first CD till well into the 90's:(
I also have that CD and saw the group at the Brisbane Entertainments Center around the beggining of the 90's also.
So I was a little behind the times :rolleyes:
Thanks for the memories :thanx:
Cheers :thumbsup:

[MrB]

Nice!
I have never seen them live unfortunately :(

I listened to that album so much, that whenever I hear the track "Ride Across the River" it takes me right back to '86 and memories of sneaking out in the early morning with mum's binoculars(that she never let me touch) to view Halley ;)
She worked out what I was doing when I lost the lens covers! haha

[Paul Haese]

I remember well. Was this from JB's place? Do you remember me Greg? The name was different then. PM me and I will fill you in. :)

I have some images from this time but I did not bother with SN1987A. Another mate did, but I was eager to image nebulae at the time. I was young and did not consider the significance. It was a great naked eye sight though.

[Greg Bock]

Hi Paul,
pm'd OK

[Suzy]

Look what I dug up on YouTube!

It's a one hour interview Pamela L. Gay did with Alex Filippenko celebrating the 25th anniversary of sn1987a.

All your questions should be answered here... why did those neutrinos travel at a different rate to the light reaching us, how were they detected, why did that blue giant explode, what caused those outer rings, were two stars involved, where is the neutron star etc.

Find out the facts of what we know today after 25 years of study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmqdS33x3tM&feature=share


Very informative - don't miss this!

[astroron]

Very informative - don't miss this!

I won't Suzy ;)
Cheers :thumbsup:

[stephenb]

Great interview there Suzy!