Collaborative Research: SNEWS: The SuperNova Early Warning System

When a massive star reaches the end of its life, the core of the star collapses, producing a supernova. While visually spectacular, less than 1% of the energy in the supernova is released as visible light or as kinetic energy in the surrounding environment. Most of the energy from the supernova is released in neutrinos, which are small particles that only interact weakly with matter. The neutrino emission from a supernova precedes the emission of visible light by a few minutes up to many hours. Detecting the first neutrinos from a supernova therefore provides an early alert to trigger further observations. The SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS) is a network of neutrino detectors around the world designed to provide automated early alerts for supernovae in our galaxy. While rare, a galactic supernova would provide a unique opportunity to study the physics of core-collapse supernova, as well as the properties of neutrinos. The early alerts from SNEWS will enable observations of the earliest phases of the supernova for physicists and astronomers around the world. The SNEWS project works to engage amateur astronomers, who may play an important role in optical observations of supernova, and to involve them in the science of supernova.

SNEWS involves neutrino detectors around the world: Super-K, Large Volume Detector, IceCube, Borexino, KAMLand, and Daya Bay. If any of the participating experiments finds a burst of events, it sends a datagram to the central SNEWS computer located at Brookhaven National Laboratory, with a backup located in Bologna. If a coincidence is found within 10 seconds, a supernova alert will be sent out. SNEWS has been operational since 1998, and has been running in a fully-automated mode since 2005 with near-100% up-time. This award will provide funds to maintain the SNEWS system, support undergraduate researchers participating in the project, and expand connections to the astronomical community.