Stargazing Live viewers discover supernova

The audience of ABC’s Stargazing Live has discovered at least one new supernova — an exploding star — as part of the citizen science effort launched on Tuesday evening.

Thousands of viewers supplied more than 1 million new data points, helping to classify 18,000 images from the Skymapper telescope at the Siding Spring observatory.

Four of those participants identified a flash of light emitted from a galaxy 1.1 billion light years away.

Then in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring took time out of its current assignment to turn and stare at that galaxy, catching some of the explosion’s afterglow.

It was that observation that allowed astronomers to confirm that the flash was indeed a type Ia supernova.

Last year the ABC show helped uncover 4 new planets –

the biggest discovery in the show’s international history.

You can read more about the discovery at ABC.

The final episode airs at 8pm tonight.