123 citizen scientists break record, documenting closest supernova event

“This was the closest supernova of the last decade, and observers took full advantage of the special occasion. They jumped on target as soon as possible and kept observing, which allowed us to witness the full potential of this program,” added Sgro in the official release. 

PRESS RELEASE: https://t.co/gBBsI8ajot
In an unprecedented achievement, citizen scientists have set a new record for the SETI Institute and @Unistellar, comprising the highest number of observers providing data on a single event. pic.twitter.com/R044J1MHWu

— The SETI Institute (@SETIInstitute) July 11, 2023

Observation using 115 telescopes 

This catastrophic event occurred about 21 million light-years from Earth in the spiral galaxy called Pinwheel Galaxy. 

The bright supernova was first spotted by amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki of Japan on May 19, 2023. Observations, however, indicate that it first appeared on May 18. 

Less than an hour after the supernova's first reported appearance, 123 citizen scientists began their observations. 

About 252 observations from 115 telescopes over the course of 35 days documented the supernova's increasing brightness, followed by its slight decrease, in unparalleled detail. 

The progressive decline of brightness suggests that the supernova explosion led to the formation of a neutron star, indicating the star's final demise.

This resulted in the creation of the "longest continuous light curve" of this supernova, according to SETI's official statement. 

“This extensive dataset provides valuable insights into the behavior of this supernova, thanks to the collaborative efforts of dedicated amateur astronomers,” added the statement. 

The citizen scientists will continue to observe the supernova until it is no longer visible. It is likely to remain bright until August. 

The joint citizen scientists effort is part of the Cosmic Cataclysms science program, which is undertaken in collaboration with SETI Institute and Unistellar. 

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation have provided funding for the project. 

The goal of this initiative is to bring together citizen astronomers to examine extreme cosmic events like supernovae and gamma-ray bursts.

The program employs an alert system that instantly notifies participants whenever "objects of interest" are discovered. This alert allows all participants to quickly perform observation by pointing their telescopes at that particular area of the sky. 

The study results have been published in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society. 

Study abstract:

We present highly sampled photometry of the supernova (SN) 2023ixf, a Type II SN in M101, beginning 2 days before its first known detection. To gather these data, we enlisted the global Unistellar Network of citizen scientists. These 252 observations from 115 telescopes show the SN's rising brightness associated with shock emergence followed by gradual decay. We measure a peak MV = − 18.18 ± 0.09 mag at 2023 May 25 21:37 UTC in agreement with previously published analyses.