The Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS)

When large stars reach the end of their lives, they die in supernovae—giant explosions that form neutron stars, black holes and many chemical elements that we couldn’t live without. Since a supernova in our Milky Way happening only every 50 years or so, the Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS) was developed to give astronomers a few hours warning and make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In this talk, I will introduce SNEWS, explain how it works and what steps we are currently taking to improve it for the modern era of multi-messenger astronomy.