Ongoing History Daily: A real Champagne supernova

Back in the late 90s, Mark Armstrong was living in Britain and was an unemployed civil servant. To pass the time while he was out of work, he indulged in his pastime as an amateur astronomer. 

In November 1996, he was making some observations while listening to the radio. He was checking out a particular section of the sky when the radio started playing “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis.  Just then, Mark thought he spotted something.  He was right. 

Mark became the first British astronomer to discover a new exploding star, which, of course, is also known as a “supernova.” While astronomers observe several hundred supernovas each year, what were the chances of Mark finding one at the exact moment that song was on the radio?

Yesterday’s was entitled “Stabbing The Offspring.”