In a galaxy far, far away, 21 million lightyears from Earth, a massive star exploded, creating a supernova. The supernova was first discovered by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki in May 2023 and sparked interest from scientists around the world who wanted to study this rare phenomenon.
Among those intrigued by the supernova were three UMass Lowell undergraduates: Jacob Medin, Ian Davis, and Jordan Orenberg. These physics majors were funded by the Kennedy College of Sciences’ Science Discoveries program to study the supernova during the summer after their first year of college. Under the guidance of Physics Assoc. Prof. Silas Laycock and assistance from Physics Ph.D. student Sayantan Bhattacharya ’21, the trio learned how to operate the UMass Lowell Schueller Observatory’s powerful telescope to capture images of the supernova.
In addition to their own observations, they collaborated with the nonprofit organization Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston to obtain more images of the supernova. They then used AstroImageJ, a software for analyzing astronomical photos, to upload and analyze the data they collected over three months. Through their research and collaboration, these students made a valuable contribution to our understanding of supernovas by tracking its magnitude by observing its brightness and temperature changes.
Jordan Orenberg expressed his excitement at contributing to scientific knowledge about supernovas and sharing their findings with others in May 2023 while speaking about his experience working on this project “It was an amazing experience that gave me insight into how much there is still left for us to discover in our universe.” The data collected by these students is now available through the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), an organization that studies stars that vary in brightness as they continue their research journey towards becoming professional astronomers
