Ohio State nav bar

Possible Visibility of Milky Way Supernova in Next 50 Years

October 31, 2013

Possible Visibility of Milky Way Supernova in Next 50 Years

Supernova
Astronomers at The Ohio State University have calculated the odds that, sometime during the next 50 years, a supernova occurring in our home galaxy will be visible from Earth.
 
The good news: they've calculated the odds to be nearly 100 percent that such a supernova would be visible to telescopes in the form of infrared radiation.
 
The bad news: the odds are much lower-dipping to 20 percent or less-that the shining stellar spectacle would be visible to the naked eye in the nighttime sky.