The Search for Supernova Light Echoes

How do I use this Site?

To reserve a field (or fields) using SNLightEcho you'll need an account.
The only information we require for access is an email address.
Click on one of the log-in links or the SNLightEcho logo to take you to the home page.
Enter your email address. If we recognize the email address we will ask you for your password, otherwise you will be guided through the account setup process.
Once we confirm that the email account is in fact yours, you are officially a member of the team. Please note: We will never, under any circumstances sell or distribute your email address to anyone.
If we ever find it necessary to broadcast an announcement to the entire team we will include a link allowing you to opt out of any future broadcasts, but you will still get field reminders (see below).

You can use the field reservation system to find an available area of sky.
You are free to image anywhere in the sky, but we do have some recommended search areas.
You can use the "Quick Nav" drop down to take you straight to a recommended search area.
You are not prohibited from imaging overlapping fields, but obviously we are looking for as much coverage as we can get.

You want a high power, wide field view (I know, I know). The strongest echoes we are likely to see are estimated at 21.5 magnitudes per arc second and there is a lot of sky to cover so choose/borrow/reserve your telescope accordingly.
You'll need a sufficiently high bit depth on your CCD image to show subtle differences in levels of gray. 16-bit is ideal, and 12-bit is the minimum.
Not sure about those first two points? Check out our "Is my Equipment good Enough?" FAQ
Scattered moonlight is blue, just like the light of supernova light echoes, so you should only image when the moon is sufficiently beyond the horizon.
A filter that cuts off light beyond 700 nanometers can improve the contrast of light echoes.

Once you have your image you should claim that field on the "Reserve" page to prevent others from covering the same area.
You should then upload your image through the "My Fields" page on the site. We will make sure your image is archived, backed up and available when you need it later.

There are some fields we would really like to see in FITS headers:

If you do not upload a second image within 12 months of the first image, we will send you a reminder email asking if you would like to keep the field for another 30 days or release it.

Light echoes in the Milky Way are estimated to move 10 to 30 arc seconds per year.
While it may be possible to detect an echo after just a few months, you should probably wait a year before re-imaging to maximize your chances of detecting a light echo.
You can pass the time you spend waiting for your field to "come back around" by imaging more fields.

All the info in step 3 applies here as well.
The more consistent your images, the easier to detect differences.
The more consistent your pointings, the more efficient your sky coverage will be.

Upload your subtracted image on the "My Fields" page.
In the "Edit Field" dialog on the "My Fields" page, trim your reserved field height and width values to match the area of sky that was effectively imaged by both pointings.
Oh yeah, while you're there indicate whether a light echo was observed or not.