Gaia in the UK

Taking the Galactic Census

Observe - Alerts archive

On this page you can find the list of all Gaia Alerts which were suitable for observing with a small telescope.

Explanation of Alerts table

Alert ID: The name that was assigned to this Alert. Click on the link to see more information about the Alert.
Time: When Gaia first detected this Alert.
RA: The right ascension of the Alert (see Observing advice for more info).
Dec: The declination of the Alert.
Mag: The brightness of the Alert in Gaia magnitudes. For more information on magnitudes, see Observing advice. Note that a lower value for the magnitude means an Alert is brighter, and a higher value means it is fainter.
Classification: What sort of transient each Alert is.
Comment: Any additional information we have about why an alert is interesting, or information such as its distance.
Desired follow-up: Guidelines on what data we need from telescopes such as Faulkes for each Alert.
School: Initials of schools following-up this Alert (see Schools following-up Gaia Alerts).

Alert ID Timesort ascending RA Dec Magnitude Classification Comment Desired follow-up School
Gaia18bdx 5 May 2018, 07:06 166.06666 50.03066 18.75 SN II candidate SN in outskirts of galaxy UGC 6129, rising ECS
Gaia18asi 24 Mar 2018, 01:36 275.09139 7.18534 12.00 XRB bright outburst in Gaia source, aka ASASSN-18ey, aka MAXI J1820+070, candidate X-ray binary

This was discovered first in the optical (by ASAS-SN) then in X-rays, and then we saw it brighten in Gaia. It's very likely to be an X-ray binary with a black hole at the centre. Continued photometric monitoring of this new system is encouraged - especially in a blue filter

Gaia18aod 8 Mar 2018, 09:11 208.36495 -67.41694 6.77 Nova confirmed Galactic Nova, extremely bright, aka Nova Circini 2018 (PNV J13532700-6725110)

An opportunity to observe a really bright Galactic Nova.

Gaia18aen 17 Jan 2018, 04:16 120.71694 -30.31032 11.33 unknown bright emission line star in Galactic plane brightens by 1 magnitude

This is bright and in reach of modest telescopes - BUT only really observable from the Southern Hemisphere. We've no idea what this is - please monitor

ECS
Gaia17bnk 13 Jun 2017, 01:14 95.65247 -38.56183 17.46 CV Candidate CV, 2mag rise in UV source GALEXASC J062236.61-383342.9, Gaia & CRTS have prior outbursts

We think this is a cataclysmic variable and we want to measure its orbital period. Continuous monitoring for 2 - 3 hours in a single filter (e.g. g or r) will show how the brightness varies with time and from that we can work out the binary period.

 

Gaia17bnl 12 Jun 2017, 22:47 312.75374 44.53049 16.48 YSO 1 mag dip in YSO V1701 Cyg

Young star in the North American Nebula. Appears to fade because of dust in the local environment. Continuous observations preferred in two filters, e.g. V and I

Gaia17bej 7 May 2017, 14:30 274.25440 -31.38352 14.60 ULENS source towards Galactic Bulge brightens by 3 mags, candidate microlensing event

Candidate microlensing event... or is it? We don't know. Observe it to help us find out!

Gaia16bic 17 Sep 2016, 07:31 122.55712 33.95713 18.00 SN II candidate SN in grand design spiral galaxy NGC 2532

We don't know what type of SN this is yet, but it should be visible at mag~18 at the very end of the night.

Gaia16bgk 11 Sep 2016, 16:21 310.16636 -54.31064 14.15 SN Ia candidate SN in NGC 6942 GS-TEC predicts SN Ia

This is a nice nearby Type Ia SN, and it's bright too - mag~14.5. You should be able to spot this with a small telescope and a CCD camera.

Gaia16bef 30 Aug 2016, 23:09 203.66082 -23.68151 15.21 SN Ia confirmed SN Ia, found by ASAS: SN 2016eiy

This is a bright Type Ia supernovae in a nearby galaxy! See if you can get some imaging of it - try ugri imaging every two nights, it's currently mag~16

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