Instead of going big or going home, Ohio State University is trying a different approach: using smaller telescopes to study sections of the universe.
OSU reported success for the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN, pronounced "assassin") at the final day of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.
ASAS-SN launched in May of 2014 and since then has identified 89 bright supernovae, which is more than all other professional astronomical surveys combined, according to Ohio State News.
Six 6-inch telescopes - four telescopes in Hawaii and two in Chile, plus telescopes from volunteer astronomers across the globe - do the "assassin" work.
ASAS-SN covers 500 million light-years around the Milky Way Galaxy, which adds up to 1 percent of the "observable universe," according to Ohio State News.
"It's natural to be interested in our local neighborhood," said Krzysztof Stanek, a professor of astronomy at Ohio State. "This is where we live, this is where the action is."
"ASAS-SN is the only survey to study the local universe," he added. "Our early success proves that small telescopes can do big things, and the interest we've received from the astronomical community has quickly grown to the point that we need additional projects to cover other types of detection events besides supernovae."
According to a press release from OSU: "Because ASAS-SN discoveries are made public online (at https://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~assassin), amateur astronomers can follow along and contribute. Stanek said that the volunteers have already formed a growing and active community, in part because amateurs who are able to submit an image confirming an ASAS-SN supernova are awarded co-authorship on any journal papers that result.
