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A New Observatory Will Spot Core-Collapse Supernovae Before They Explode


Although we haven't had a supernova explode nearby in a few hundred years, it's just a matter of time before it happens. Astronomers want to be ready. The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory is being built in China and should be gathering its first data by the end of 2023. If all goes well, it can detect a burst of neutrinos coming from a core-collapse supernova before we can see the flash of radiation. As the star is imploding, energy piles up inside the star, but the neutrinos can freely escape, arriving seconds earlier than the radiation. It'll have a range of 3,000 light-years for pre-supernova neutrino detections and 1.2 million light-years for post-supernova detection.

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