I found a news story this morning which intrigued me.  A ten-year-old girl in Canada, Kathryn Aurora Gray, discovered a supernova.  This is significant to me in several ways.  First, there’s the fact that it’s a girl making the discovery.  It’s a reasonably well-known fact that women are often discouraged from scientific pursuits, but this girl was helped by her father.  Second, not only did this girl, obviously not a professional astronomer (yet) make this find, but the supernova was confirmed by two amateur astronomers.

Think about that for a moment.  One amateur scientist makes a discovery and two other amateurs confirm it.  How many fields of science are there where that can happen?  Once upon a time, amateur scientists were found in nearly every field.  Sure, many of them were quacks and had insane, unsupportable ideas, but every now and then somebody with very little formal training would make interesting discoveries.  Now, “backyard” science is still only found in a couple of areas, astronomy being one of them.

I think this is great.  One important aspect of science is an open mind.  There’s been some banter here and there about how the science community at large rejects new ideas and even works to suppress any evidence which contradicts established theories.  While I am certain this negativity happens to some degree, the very nature of the scientific process is to accept evidence which contradicts or otherwise changes a known theory.  The girl’s discovery doesn’t contradict or change anything, but the acceptance of her discovery is a demonstration of the willingness of astronomers to accept valid, confirmed discoveries from anyone who makes an observation.  That’s the way science is supposed to work.

I don’t know if amateur science is trending up or down, but it’s good to know it’s still alive.  I am something less than an amateur astronomer myself.  If I had the equipment and the time, I would love to make the kind of discovery Ms. Gray made.  She did it with the perseverance required for this kind of thing:  She pored over photographs of the night sky and noticed a difference between two images.  This may not seem like much, but with billions of stars out there, noticing a little change like this is a big deal.  Look at the image in the press release.  The tiny white dot that’s the supernova she found is…well, it’s tiny.  Something easily missed or passed over.  But Ms. Gray noticed it and checked what she was seeing.  Her colleagues (interesting a 10-year-old should have “colleagues,” eh?) helped her and confirmed what she was seeing and then put it out there for confirmation from other observatories.

So to Ms. Gray I say, Bravo!  May you continue your discoveries, and may the spirit of backyard science continue to be alive and well thanks to you and those like you.