There goes any feeling of accomplishment us grown-ups had today. Ten-year-old Nathan Gray just discovered a supernova, unseating his own sister as the world’s youngest to do so. Talk about sibling rivalries.
Nathan was looking through images from the Abbey Ridge Observatory in Nova Scotia when he spotted the potential supernova, PGC 61330, in the constellation of Draco. The 600-million-year-old dying star wasn’t visible in images of the constellation, meaning Nathan is likely the first human to set eyes on it.
If the newly-spotted star is confirmed by astronomers to be a supernova, Nathan will take the world’s youngest title from his older sister, Kathryn Aurora Gray, who was only 33 days older than Nathan when she discovered Supernova 2010lt in January of 2011.
You know your family’s pretty cool when the International Astronomical Union settles your brother-sister competitions. [Universe Today]
