Hello Friend,

      Who the heck is Oscar Duhalde??  And who the heck is Robert McNaught?

   Names that you've likely never heard of.

  But you've heard of Ian Shelton.   Yes, the credited discoverer of Supernova 1987a , who just happens
to live closeby in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

      Yes, Ian's the man.

     Now the interesting thing is that Robert McNaught, of Australia, actually photographed the Supernova prior
to Shelton, but he didn't check his work till later, and thus missed out.

     As for Oscar Duhalde, well he was also in Chile, not far from where Ian Shelton was actually, and saw the
star naked eye first. This dude was looking up at the sky and actually noticed this bright star: He was the first
to actually observe it!

     Ian Shelton got the credit for the discovery, because not only did he image it, but he also was the first
to actually report it to the proper authorities.

   Kudos to Ian Shelton, as we now celebrate the 27th Anniversary of  the discovery of one of the most observed and studied objects
of the night sky by astronomers everywhere.

And so, if you see something that looks like an anomaly, be sure to investigate further.  Don't doubt yourself without further
investigation. 

Clear Skies,

Ray "exploding star" Khan

PS  Telescopes and equipment for amateurs have become more sophisticated and easier to use in the past few years. 
        And costs have gone down. That is why the amateur astronomer of today has a very good chance of making discoveries that
       were only accessible for the most part to professionals in years gone by.

PPS (If you are seeing  little green men from Mars or something, then I suggest you take a look at the inventory in your liquor cabinet first).