Golden Ears Observatory

Warm holiday wishes from Golden Ears Observatory to everyone who follows us.

This year was a solid one for the Golden Ears Observatory Transient Survey (GEOTS). Despite Vancouver’s often cloudy and rainy skies, we have now reached 92 transient discoveries since inception, including supernovae, novae, and dwarf novae. We also remain in the top 20 worldwide for transient discoveries, something we’re very proud of.

Other highlights in 2025:

- Approximately 32,000 minor planet observations submitted to the Minor Planet Centre

- 24 discovery confirmations

- Mentioned in 67 Minor Planet Electronic Circulars (MPECs)

Looking ahead, Golden Ears Observatory will be launching another very wide-field telescope rig, paired with our custom-written transient detection software, SNOW (Super Nova Observatory Watch). This new system is designed specifically to detect and discover bright transients across the night sky, and we’re excited about what it will bring in the coming year.

More information:
https://interstellargalactic.com/?page_id=154

https://www.jostjahn.de/stations/U55.html

https://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2025/snstats.html

Wishing everyone happy holidays and clear skies ahead as we head into the new year — with our sights set on 100 transient discoveries :-)

Bright Supernova pages - Statistics for 2025 supernova discoveries statistics

✨Year-End Highlights from Golden Ears Observatory (MPC Station U55) ✨

As 2024 draws to a close, we are proud to reflect on a year of astronomical success. Golden Ears Observatory operated on most of the clear nights, making valuable contributions to citizen science and the field of amateur astronomy. Here's a look at our accomplishments:

🔭 6,000+ observations submitted to the Minor Planet Center in 2024, bringing our total since May 2021 to 25,271!
🌍 15 discovery confirmations, where Golden Ears Observatory helped confirm minor planet discoveries of leading professional observatories.
☄️ Astrometry of 55 PHAs, Comets and NEOs submitted to the Minor Planet Center.
🌀 Astrometry of 273 unusual or critical asteroids and 2000+ regular asteroids sent to the Minor Planet Center.

(Credit: https://www.jostjahn.de/stations/U55.html)

Golden Ears Observatory also made strides in exoplanet observations this year, submitting data on planets orbiting other stars to the AAVSO. We look forward to contributing more in 2025!

Our supernova search survey, GEOTS, also had remarkable success. Golden Ears Observatory was ranked in the top 20 observatories worldwide for transient discoveries, with 21 discoveries, surpassing the James Webb Space Telescope’s 19 transient discoveries.
(Credit: https://rochesterastronomy.org/sn2024/snstats.html)

This year, we also made two extragalactic nova discoveries in the Andromeda Galaxy. These findings were confirmed by numerous professional observatories around the world, including ATLAS, GOTO, and Master.

🤖 In 2024, we implemented an AI-based automatic detection of asteroids from sky survey data collected at the observatory. The mastermind behind this innovation is Laura Murphy, a volunteer at Golden Ears Observatory who successfully defended her Master's thesis on this topic titled, "Using Machine Learning to Optimize Near-Earth Object Sighting Data at the Golden Ears Observatory." Congratulations, Laura! 🎉 (https://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1834109&dswid=-3237)

In the coming year, we are planning to expand our capabilities and continue making exciting discoveries.

The attached sky coverage map for 2024 shows the area of the northern hemisphere covered by our telescope and camera system. Each rectangle represents the field of view of our camera.

🔗 For all discoveries, visit our discovery webpage (https://goldenearsobservatory.com/?page_id=154).

Stay tuned for more updates in 2025! 🚀