Amateur astronomer's second supernova discovery - The Sun

AN Irish boffin is planning a champagne supernova after he found a SECOND exploding star — from his SHED.

Dedicated David Grennan is celebrating the find in a galaxy far, far away — 123million light years to be exact.

And the proud boffin, from Raheny, Dublin, has promised himself a glass of bubbly after the celestial blast was formally dedicated by authorities as Supernova 2012ej on Monday.

Amateur astrologer Grennan, 41, made the discovery after spending hours examining a galaxy in the Lynx constellation.

He said: "I never thought I'd see the day that I'd find another supernova. I think I'm more excited about this one than the last one."

David made the stunning find after the LAST of his 117 photos of different galaxies at the edge of the universe proved a winner.

He added: "At the start of a night you target different galaxies. I took 117 images in total.

"The first 112 had nothing on them, then the next four were cloud cover.

"Miraculously, the cloud broke and the last one was the money shot. I couldn't believe it. I nearly fell off my chair when I realised."

Astronomy Ireland boss David Moore believes the supernova could be unofficially named Armstrong's Star, after the late moonwalker Neil Armstrong, who died on Saturday just after David made his stunning discovery.

Moore said: "I met Neil Armstrong in 2003 and he said he was always very impressed by amateur astronomers. I think he would have been very proud of David."

mark.may@the-sun.ie