Space Telescopes Tracking Rare Outburst First Seen By Amateur Astronomers.
Mike Simonsen at Universe Today (1/28) wrote, "Today, two amateur astronomers from Florida detected a rare outburst of the recurrent nova U Scorpii, which set in motion satellite observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, Swift and Spitzer." An eruption had been predicted by Bradley Schaefer of Louisiana State University. Simonsen noted that only 10 recurrent novae are known to exist, and because their outbursts occur rarely, "observers of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) have been closely monitoring the star...waiting to detect the first signs of an eruption." The mechanism by which these explosions occur is not well known, so "scientists are eager to obtain all the data they can on these eruptions to determine what is happening."
Mike Simonsen at Universe Today (1/28) wrote, "Today, two amateur astronomers from Florida detected a rare outburst of the recurrent nova U Scorpii, which set in motion satellite observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, Swift and Spitzer." An eruption had been predicted by Bradley Schaefer of Louisiana State University. Simonsen noted that only 10 recurrent novae are known to exist, and because their outbursts occur rarely, "observers of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) have been closely monitoring the star...waiting to detect the first signs of an eruption." The mechanism by which these explosions occur is not well known, so "scientists are eager to obtain all the data they can on these eruptions to determine what is happening."
