Star-struck: Amateur astronomer discovers Ireland’s first supernova

FROM a shed in a Raheny backgarden, an amateur astronomer has made the first-ever Irish discovery of supernova – a star which exploded 290 million years ago.

Supernovae are described as the “cataclysmic failure of a star” and occur when, in an extraordinarily violent explosion, the star self-destructs destroying nearby suns and orbiting planets.

The supernova was found by Dr Grennan, a former chairman of Astronomy Ireland, on September 17, using a Celestron C14 telescope and CCD camera.