Flashback: SN1987A

[von Tom (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 (Ron)]

Hi Tom, no pictures here but I had my first Doh! 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 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
I was at the front of the queue but not knowing what a supernova was marveled out loud at all the stuff coming of the supernova 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
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
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

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

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 (Tom)]

Great memories guys.

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

Cheers,

Tom

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Fantastic photo Tom
Thanks for bringing it to memory again

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 ), now show us Saturn or Jupiter "

No pleasing some people, but I loved it

[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.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[von Tom (Tom)]

Wiki on the co-discoverer Ian Shelton:

Discovery of Supernova 1987A
On February 23, 1987, Shelton, while working in Chile for the University of Toronto, discovered a previously undetected bright light on a photograph of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Initially skeptical, Shelton made an unusual move and went outside to look with the naked eye, only to notice the bright light was indeed present. His discovery turned out to be a supernova, the first visible to the naked eye since Johannes Kepler observed SN 1604 nearly 383 years prior.
His discovery was not short lived, as other astronomers quickly noticed around the world and disseminated the information. As Shelton reported first, he is credited with the discovery.

[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.

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

[ZeroID (Brent)]

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