astronomy

SN 2012fr

SN 2012fr is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SN 2012fr rather than just read about it. In short: SN 2012fr was a supernova discovered by Alain Klotz on October 27, 2012, located in the galaxy NGC 1365. Discovery When Klotz, an astrophysicist from Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in France checked the galaxy images from TAROT la Silla observatory, the comparison of the night image of the galaxy with a reference image taken one month before clearly revealed the presence of a new star 3"W and…

Key takeaways

SN 2012fr belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SN 2012fr to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SN 2012fr from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SN 2012fr was a supernova discovered by Alain Klotz on October 27, 2012, located in the galaxy NGC 1365.

Discovery When Klotz, an astrophysicist from Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in France checked the galaxy images from TAROT la Silla observatory, the comparison of the night image of the galaxy with a reference image taken one month before clearly revealed the presence of a new star 3"W and 52"N from the nucleus of the galaxy. After checking for possible objects like asteroids that might have been in the same location, four individual images that showed the new star were retrieved in the TAROT image archive. Also, the object did not appear in images taken several days before. On October 28 at 6:41 UTC, Emmanuel Conseil sent an email to Alain Klotz indicating he took an image of NGC 1365 using the robotic telescope Slooh robotic telescope. The picture showed the supernova candidate and was seen as the first confirmation. At 22:00 UTC, Michael Childress from Australian National University took the first spectrum, indicating that it is a Type Ia supernova 11 days before the maximum of light. On October 31, 2012, the supernova was given the official designation SN 2012fr.

Observations The TAROT telescope was taking images of the NGC 1365 and NGC 1316 every night from 29 October. The preliminary light curve indicates the supernova becoming bluer before reaching the maximum.

External links Discovery process by Alain Klotz Archived 2015-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Detailed optical and ultraviolet Observations AAVSO

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SN 2012fr

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SN 2012fr claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SN 2012fr before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SN 2012fr ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SN 2012fr

In research: SN 2012fr appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SN 2012fr in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SN 2012fr is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Astronomical objects discovered in 2012, Discoveries by Alain Klotz, Fornax, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SN 2012fr outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SN 2012fr in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SN 2012fr means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SN 2012fr out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SN 2012fr in simple terms?

SN 2012fr was a supernova discovered by Alain Klotz on October 27, 2012, located in the galaxy NGC 1365. Discovery When Klotz, an astrophysicist from Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in France checked the galaxy images from TAROT la Silla observatory, the comparison of the nig…

Why does SN 2012fr matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SN 2012fr?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SN 2012fr.