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Citizen scientists catch star exploding in real time

BBC Sky at Night Magazine

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September 2025

Members of the public spotted the outburst within hours of its detection by telescopes

Citizen scientists catch star exploding in real time

A citizen astronomy project known as Kilonova Seekers has discovered an exploding star system in real time.

Described as like a game of astronomical 'spot the difference', the project invites members of the public around the world to compare images of the night sky to images of the same section taken on previous nights. This time, the difference was an extremely bright exploding star.

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