Embargoed Till: 01 July 2025 (Provisional) – Remaining Date TBC
The Kilonova Seekers Project is approaching its two-year anniversary of inviting members of the general public to analyse close to real-time information collected from the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) mission. This mission takes all-sky survey photos of area from two arrays of telescopes situated on reverse sides of the planet – in Spain and Australia.
Beforehand described as taking part in astronomical ‘spot the distinction,’ Kilonova Seekers asks the general public to match the most recent photos of a bit of evening sky to a picture of the identical part of area taken on earlier nights. Their aim – to identify new stars or vital modifications in mild depth which will point out that one thing exceptional has occurred in area.
Printed in the present day within the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, Kilonova Seekers has introduced its first revealed main discovery – an object that underwent an excessive brightening (by an element 2500 in a matter of days) that was not seen when in comparison with the picture taken ~2 days earlier. The fast response and diligent work of the general public allowed the item to be studied and labeled early in its evolution, figuring out it as a cataclysmic variable star, and given the identify GOTO0650.
Armagh Astronomer, Prof Gavin Ramsay, and lead of Armagh’s involvement in GOTO and Co-Chair of the GOTO Government Board mentioned “This was a really brilliant eruption of an object which wasn’t beforehand often known as being such an thrilling object. What was very fascinating concerning the eruption was that after it began to fade, it skilled one other ten outbursts of a lot shorter length. Observations of those repeating outbursts, which beginner astronomers helped get hold of, are used to check theoretical fashions of accretion flows and discs. The kilonova Seekers have found a number of dozen of supernovae, however that is the primary time they discovered such an thrilling object situated in our personal Milky Approach. We look ahead to many extra discoveries sooner or later”.
The invention picture that the Kilonova Seekers volunteers first noticed of GOTO0650 when it went into outburst. The science, reference, and distinction photos are proven: the “science” picture taken on the evening of discovery, the “reference” picture taken just a few months prior underneath one of the best sky circumstances, and the “distinction” picture which makes use of an algorithm to subtract out all objects which haven’t modified in brightness between the science and reference. The very brilliant star in each the science and distinction photos is the item itself – it brightened by a couple of issue of 2500x. Picture Credit score: GOTO, T. Killestein
Co-lead of Kilonova Seekers, Dr. Tom Killestein, Warwick Prize Fellow within the Astronomy and Astrophysics group on the College of Warwick mentioned: “Kilonova Seekers is a singular alternative for members of the general public to participate in true real-time astrophysics. Remarkably, public volunteers recognized this star as an object of curiosity inside 3 1/2 hours of the picture being taken by the GOTO telescopes – this discovery might have been missed amongst many different objects with out their efforts”
“The involvement of the volunteers didn’t cease there, as there was an enormous follow-up response from the general public. It was flagged for additional observations from the Swift and Einstein Probe area observatories, and GOTO0650 was brilliant sufficient for beginner astronomers to take impressively high-quality observations of with their very own gear, which fashioned a key a part of the paper and actually helped us perceive the item.”
Cataclysmic variable stars sporadically enhance in brightness by giant quantities earlier than dropping again to regular ranges. They’re compact binary star programs, consisting of a white dwarf star stealing matter from its companion donor star. Periodically, materials from the donor star hits a crucial density and temperature inside the disc of fuel that surrounds the white dwarf, which causes an explosive outburst and brilliant flashes of sunshine.
The quick response of the general public enabled the group to get an unusually extremely full dataset on the star, together with spectroscopy, X-ray, and UV measurements. This was supplemented by the impressively high-quality observations of the beginner astronomers, co-ordinated through the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), and observations with the Las Cumbres Observatory’s 0.4m worldwide community of robotic telescopes, through the Kilonova Seekers International Sky Partnership. These observations recommend it’s a interval bouncer, the ultimate state of a cataclysmic variable star, and a uncommon object to search out even within the age of widespread wide-field imaging surveys.
Co-lead of Kilonova Seekers, Dr Lisa Kelsey, Leverhulme Early Profession Fellow, Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge mentioned: “Citizen science is a robust solution to make novel serendipitous discoveries in huge datasets that will usually must be analysed in depth by scientists.
“With over 2.8 million classifications to date, the invention of GOTO0650 is basically the top of two years of constant exhausting work from our volunteers. With out the Kilonova Seekers volunteers flagging this object, speedy follow-up wouldn’t have been doable, and this object might have been missed totally.”
The huge numbers of observations taken in these imaging surveys will quickly be past the capability of particular person and small groups of scientists to label and validate. Citizen Science is a viable, mutually helpful answer to keep away from objects like GOTO0650 being missed.
As a shining instance of such efforts, Kilonova Seekers has supplied over 3,500 members of the general public with the chance to find supernovae and variable stars utilizing actual information. With volunteers from world wide, there’s virtually at all times somebody on-line wanting on the information in real-time.
The announcement of the primary revealed discovery is a becoming solution to rejoice two years of kilonova in search of, and this discovery means simply as a lot to the volunteers who not solely give their time to astronomical discovery however have fashioned a neighborhood round it.
Svetoslav Alexandrov, Kilonova Seekers Volunteer mentioned: “Site visitors in Sofia, Bulgaria, is at all times terrible throughout the mornings so I’ve to move time on the bus in some way, and contributing to citizen science is a superb method to try this! Kilonova Seekers is on the highest of my listing, as a result of it’s mobile-friendly and most significantly, it provides us contemporary imagery virtually each single day.”
“I actually screamed with pleasure after I noticed that I used to be going to be a co-author of the analysis paper. I’m sure that folks on the road raised their eyebrows once they noticed me screaming and dancing, however I didn’t care. I knew I’m a co-discoverer of one thing vital, and this was all that mattered”
Cledison Marcos da Silva, Kilonova Seekers Volunteer mentioned: “This discovery was crucial to me, as I used to be going via a critical well being drawback and the citizen science we do at Kilonova Seekers was distracting me from my scenario. I by no means imagined that we’d uncover such a brilliant transient, so it was an enormous shock, and we have been very completely happy after we came upon. This discovery reveals the significance of citizen science, each scientifically and personally. Even out of your mattress, or on the road together with your cellular phone, there’s the potential of making an important discovery.”
Mayahuel Torres-Guerrero, Kilonova Seekers Volunteer mentioned: “The journey from the invention of GOTO0650 to the publication of the paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics has been personally rewarding. I had the chance to discover ways to obtain information from LCO telescopes and to provide mild curves that allowed us to observe echo outbursts. It was very thrilling when GOTO0650 produced an echo outburst on Christmas Day and New 12 months’s Day! It was an ideal journey for somebody who has studied social sciences like me!”
Access the Paper about this discovery here.
