Collaborative Research: SNEWS: the SuperNova Early Warning System

当一颗大质量恒星到达生命的尽头时，恒星的核心会坍塌，产生超新星。虽然在视觉上很壮观，但超新星中只有不到1%的能量以可见光或动能的形式释放到周围环境中。来自超新星的大部分能量以中微子的形式释放出来，中微子是一种只与物质发生微弱相互作用的小粒子。超新星发出的中微子比可见光早几分钟到几个小时。因此，探测到来自超新星的第一批中微子为进一步的观测提供了早期预警。超新星早期预警系统（SNEWS）是一个由世界各地的中微子探测器组成的网络，旨在为我们银河系中的超新星提供自动预警。虽然罕见，但星系超新星将为研究核心坍缩超新星的物理学以及中微子的性质提供一个独特的机会。来自SNEWS的早期预警将使世界各地的物理学家和天文学家能够观测到超新星的早期阶段。SNEWS项目旨在吸引可能在超新星光学观测中发挥重要作用的业余天文学家，并使他们参与超新星科学。SNEWS涉及世界各地的中微子探测器：Super-K、Large Volume Detector、IceCube、Borexino、KAMLand和大亚湾。如果参与实验的任何一个发现突发事件，它将向位于布鲁克海文国家实验室的中央SNEWS计算机发送数据报，备份位于博洛尼亚。如果在10秒内发现了巧合，就会发出超新星警报。SNEWS自1998年开始运行，自2005年以来一直以全自动模式运行，正常运行时间接近100%。该奖项将提供资金用于SNEWS系统的维护，支持本科生参与该项目的研究，并扩大与天文学界的联系。

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.