While some 14-year-olds are scouring their mall to find the latest fashions, Caroline Moore discovered a supernova in a nearby galaxy.
Astronomers say Moore is the youngest person to ever discover a supernova — and in her case, an extremely rare one, ScienceDaily.com reports.
The supernova, that scientists have coined SN 2008ha, is a new type of stellar explosion that may be the weakest of its kind ever seen.
SN 2008ha is 70 million light years away, appearing very faint from Earth — but is still 25 million times brighter than the sun.
Caroline was able to discover the object using a small telescope, but astronomers used some of the most advanced telescopes to determine the nature of the explosion.
Alex Filippenko, leader of the University of California, Berkeley supernova group, which monitors thousands of relatively nearby galaxies, says SN2008ha could have been a massive star suddenly collapsing to form a black hole.
"Coincidentally, the youngest person to ever discover a supernova found one of the most peculiar and interesting supernovae ever," remarked Filippenko. "This shows that no matter what your age, anyone can make a significant contribution to our understanding of the universe."
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