Puckett Observatory facts for kids
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Coordinates
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34°43′57″N 84°32′07″W / 34.732386°N 84.535300°W
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The Puckett Observatory is a special place in Georgia where people study the stars and space. It's a private observatory, which means it's owned and run by an individual, not a big organization. The owner is named Tim Puckett.
The main goals of this observatory are to find and study comets and to discover supernovae. Supernovae are huge, bright explosions of stars! To help find these stellar explosions, the observatory runs something called the Puckett Observatory World Supernova Search. This team has found an amazing 369 supernovae so far!
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Telescopes at Puckett Observatory
The Puckett Observatory has two main telescopes that help astronomers see far into space.
The Big 24-inch Telescope
One of the telescopes is very large, about 60 centimeters (or 24 inches) across. It's a special type called a Ritchey–Chrétien telescope. What's really cool is that Tim Puckett himself designed and built this telescope! It took him nine years to finish, and it started working full-time in 1997. It's one of the biggest telescopes in the state of Georgia.
The Celestron C-14 Telescope
The other telescope at the observatory is a Celestron C-14. This is a Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope, which is another kind of powerful telescope. It's connected to a robotic system called Software Bisque's Paramount ME. This system helps control the telescope automatically.
The World Supernova Search
The Puckett Observatory World Supernova Search started in 1998. Tim Puckett is the main person in charge of this project. This search team is made up of many amateur astronomers. An amateur astronomer is someone who loves studying space but doesn't do it as their main job. These team members live in different places, including the United States, Canada, India, Greece, and Italy.
How the Search Works
The observatory uses computers to control the robotic telescopes. These computers then send images of space to volunteers over the internet. Each volunteer carefully compares (or "blinks") these new images with older pictures of the same part of space. They are looking for anything new or different, like a bright supernova! The team spends at least 40 hours every week running this search. Many team members have spent thousands of hours helping to find these amazing star explosions.
Amazing Discoveries
The Puckett Observatory World Supernova Search team has made many important discoveries. Here are some of the most notable ones:
- Type Iax Supernovae: The team helped discover a brand new type of star explosion! These are called Type Iax Supernovae. They are similar to other supernovae but are not as bright. The Puckett Observatory Supernova Search found 7 of these new types of explosions.
- Two Supernovae in One Galaxy: The team made a very rare discovery when they found two supernovae exploding in the same galaxy! This is like finding two huge fireworks going off at the same time in the same place.
- Other Supernovae: The team has discovered many other individual supernovae, including SN 2005bc, SN 2005gl, SN 2008ha, and SN 2012A.
- Minor Planet: They also discovered a minor planet, which is a small rocky object orbiting the Sun. It was found in 1999 and is called 1999 JR137.
About Tim Puckett
Timothy David Puckett was born in 1962 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He is an amazing amateur astronomer and astrophotographer. An astrophotographer takes pictures of space objects. Tim has been doing this for over 30 years!
Tim's Work
Tim Puckett is very skilled with digital cameras used for astronomy, called CCD cameras. He has used many different ones since 1989. He has also built several robotic telescopes himself. Currently, he runs an automated program to search for supernovae and study comets. He uses his 60-cm and 35-cm telescopes for this work.
Tim's incredible photos of comets and deep-sky objects have been shown all over the world. His work has appeared in books and magazines in countries like Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Germany, Australia, and South Africa. You might have even seen his work on TV channels like ABC, NBC, CNN, and The Discovery Channel! He also helps professional observatories as a consultant for robotic telescopes.
Awards and Recognition
Because of all his important work in astronomy, a minor planet was named after him! This asteroid, called 32096 Puckett, was discovered in 2000. It was named in his honor in 2003.
In 2011, Tim Puckett received a special award called the Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award from the American Astronomical Society. This award is given to amateur astronomers who make big discoveries in astronomy. The award recognized Tim for his Puckett Observatory World Supernova Search program, which had discovered more than 200 supernovae at that time.
