A local resident has made a once in a lifetime discovery.
Astronomer Malhar Kendurkar reported what is known as a Supernova on July 26th to the International Astronomy Union where they confirmed he had discovered the massive star.
Most Supernova findings are in the far reaches of the universe.
“My Supernova is 300 million light years away from Earth. It took approximately 300 million years to reach my telescope.”
There are two classes of supernova, Type One and Type Two. Kendurkar found a Type One.
“There are two stars orbiting each other and one star is pulling all the mass from the other small star. When the companion star cannot take more mass into it, then that star explodes creating a supernova.”
Supernovae are hard to find because astronomers are usually looking in the wrong direction and have to scan every hemisphere to locate the cosmic event.
Kendurkar added there aren’t many people in Prince George who have made a discovery like this, and he hopes this will encourage locals to start taking part in astronomy.
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