University of Portsmouth collaboration with citizen scientists has led to the discovery of a new cataclysmic variable star that brightened by 2,500 times, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics journal.
A groundbreaking partnership between universities and more than 3,500 volunteer stargazers has resulted in a significant astronomical breakthrough.
The ‘Kilonova Seekers’ initiative, designed to locate kilonovae—cosmic explosions created when neutron stars and black holes collide in distant galaxies—has successfully identified a cataclysmic variable star designated GOTO0650, with findings published in the prestigious scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The stellar object experienced dramatic brightening, increasing its luminosity by a remarkable factor of 2,500 compared to observations made just two days earlier. The rapid response and careful attention of public volunteers enabled researchers to study and classify this celestial phenomenon during its early stages of evolution.
Through the Kilonova Seekers programme, participants engage in a cosmic version of ‘spot the difference’ using data captured by twin Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) telescopes positioned on opposite sides of Earth—one at La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands, and another at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.
Volunteers examine recent images of specific regions of the night sky alongside photographs of identical areas taken on previous nights, identifying newly appeared stars or notable changes in brightness that might signal extraordinary cosmic events.
Professor Laura Nuttall of Gravitational Wave Astronomy at the University of Portsmouth commented: “I’m really proud of everything Kilonova Seekers is achieving. We’re engaging with people in just about every timezone, and thanks to their enthusiasm for the project, they are making discoveries and contributing to furthering our understanding of astrophysics.”
The project was developed by Dr Lisa Kelsey from the University of Cambridge and Dr Tom Killestein from the University of Warwick. Dr Kelsey was recruited by Professor Nuttall as part of her UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship to create a public engagement initiative utilising GOTO telescope data.
After spending three years working on the project at the University of Portsmouth, Dr Kelsey moved to her current position at the Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology.
Dr Kelsey explained: “Citizen science is a powerful way to make novel serendipitous discoveries in vast datasets that would normally need to be analysed in depth by scientists. With over 2.8 million classifications so far, the discovery of GOTO0650 is really the pinnacle of two years of consistent hard work from our volunteers.”
Dr Tom Killestein, co-leader of Kilonova Seekers and Warwick Prize Fellow in the Astronomy and Astrophysics group at the University of Warwick, added: “Kilonova Seekers is a unique opportunity for members of the public to take part in true real-time astrophysics. Remarkably, public volunteers identified this star as an object of interest within three and a half hours of the image being taken by the GOTO telescopes.”
The enormous volume of observations collected through these imaging surveys will soon exceed the capacity of individual scientists and small research teams to analyse and verify. Citizen science represents a practical and mutually beneficial approach to prevent objects like GOTO0650 from being overlooked.
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Kilonova Seekers volunteer Cledison Marcos da Silva shared: “This discovery was very important to me, as I was going through a serious health problem and the citizen science we do at Kilonova Seekers was distracting me from my situation. I never imagined that we would discover such a bright transient, so it was a huge surprise.”
Fellow volunteer Mayahuel Torres-Guerrero said: “The journey from the discovery of GOTO0650 to the publication of the paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics has been personally rewarding. It was very exciting when GOTO0650 produced an echo outburst on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day!”
The Kilonova Seekers programme has provided more than 3,500 members of the public with opportunities to discover supernovae and variable stars using authentic astronomical data. With participants spanning 23 time zones worldwide, volunteers are almost continuously monitoring the data in real-time.
