Gaia in the UK

Taking the Galactic Census

Observe - Alerts archive

On this page you can find the list of all Gaia Alerts which were suitable for observing with a small telescope.

Explanation of Alerts table

Alert ID: The name that was assigned to this Alert. Click on the link to see more information about the Alert.
Time: When Gaia first detected this Alert.
RA: The right ascension of the Alert (see Observing advice for more info).
Dec: The declination of the Alert.
Mag: The brightness of the Alert in Gaia magnitudes. For more information on magnitudes, see Observing advice. Note that a lower value for the magnitude means an Alert is brighter, and a higher value means it is fainter.
Classification: What sort of transient each Alert is.
Comment: Any additional information we have about why an alert is interesting, or information such as its distance.
Desired follow-up: Guidelines on what data we need from telescopes such as Faulkes for each Alert.
School: Initials of schools following-up this Alert (see Schools following-up Gaia Alerts).

Alert ID Time RA Dec Magnitude Classification Comment Desired follow-up Schoolsort ascending
Gaia18aen 17 Jan 2018, 04:16 120.71694 -30.31032 11.33 unknown bright emission line star in Galactic plane brightens by 1 magnitude

This is bright and in reach of modest telescopes - BUT only really observable from the Southern Hemisphere. We've no idea what this is - please monitor

ECS
Gaia18bdx 5 May 2018, 07:06 166.06666 50.03066 18.75 SN II candidate SN in outskirts of galaxy UGC 6129, rising ECS
Gaia16agf 27 Feb 2016, 06:41 98.53741 -25.18462 17.03 SN Ia Candidate SN, GSTEC predicts young SN Ia at -16 days ECS
Gaia17bej 7 May 2017, 14:30 274.25440 -31.38352 14.60 ULENS source towards Galactic Bulge brightens by 3 mags, candidate microlensing event

Candidate microlensing event... or is it? We don't know. Observe it to help us find out!

Gaia17bnk 13 Jun 2017, 01:14 95.65247 -38.56183 17.46 CV Candidate CV, 2mag rise in UV source GALEXASC J062236.61-383342.9, Gaia & CRTS have prior outbursts

We think this is a cataclysmic variable and we want to measure its orbital period. Continuous monitoring for 2 - 3 hours in a single filter (e.g. g or r) will show how the brightness varies with time and from that we can work out the binary period.

 

Gaia17bnl 12 Jun 2017, 22:47 312.75374 44.53049 16.48 YSO 1 mag dip in YSO V1701 Cyg

Young star in the North American Nebula. Appears to fade because of dust in the local environment. Continuous observations preferred in two filters, e.g. V and I

Gaia18aod 8 Mar 2018, 09:11 208.36495 -67.41694 6.77 Nova confirmed Galactic Nova, extremely bright, aka Nova Circini 2018 (PNV J13532700-6725110)

An opportunity to observe a really bright Galactic Nova.

Gaia18asi 24 Mar 2018, 01:36 275.09139 7.18534 12.00 XRB bright outburst in Gaia source, aka ASASSN-18ey, aka MAXI J1820+070, candidate X-ray binary

This was discovered first in the optical (by ASAS-SN) then in X-rays, and then we saw it brighten in Gaia. It's very likely to be an X-ray binary with a black hole at the centre. Continued photometric monitoring of this new system is encouraged - especially in a blue filter

Gaia16aax 26 Jan 2016, 15:55 218.57701 49.21014 18.33 AGN slowly rising transient in galaxy core

The active galactic nucleus in the centre of this galaxy has started to fade again. It's now at magnitude ~19, so lets keep an eye on it: we need images in u, g, r and i filters about every two weeks.

Gaia16ada 9 Feb 2016, 00:03 188.96784 27.93208 17.72 SN imposter transient near/in NGC4559C spatially coincident with candidate LBV with previous outbursts.

A massive star seems to be undergoing a series of outbursts which we want to monitor. The outburst has faded, but lets keep an eye on it. We'll need a 300 second exposure with the LCOGT 1-m telescopes in the r filter, every month or so. CURRENTLY BEHIND THE SUN!

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