Updated
Photo:
People of all ages took part in the stargazing world record attempt. (ABC News: Marcus Alborn)
It's official: the world record for most people stargazing across multiple venues at the same time has been broken.
The
ABC's Stargazing Live broadcast, in partnership with the Australian
National University (ANU) and Australians across the country, clinched
the Guinness World Records title for an event that saw thousands of
telescopes pointed at once at the night sky.With more than 285 stargazing parties registered and thousands of telescopes delivered across the country, organisers were confident a world record would be eclipsed.
Due to the overwhelming number of participants involved, the exact number of people that helped to win this record is still being counted.
But the ABC can confirm more than 40,000 people simultaneously observed the moon through telescopes for 10 minutes on Wednesday night, eclipsing the previous record set by the ANU in 2015 of 7,960 people.
"It's great to break the world record for the number of people stargazing simultaneously, but I think this is only half the story," Stargazing Live host Professor Brian Cox said in a statement.
"The real value is that many thousands of Australians have been introduced to the wonders of the night sky, and many of those will be children.
"They will develop a lifelong interest in astronomy and science, and the impact of that will be felt in decades to come.
"Perhaps the first Australian to walk on Mars will have been inspired by this spectacular night."Stargazing Live has seen the audience help identify two new exploding stars, and in the process gather enough data to estimate the age of the universe.
Photo:
See that small dot just below the larger dot in the centre?
That's the second confirmed supernova spotted by citizen scientists
during Stargazing Live. (Supplied: Angel Lopez-Sanchez (AAO/MQ))
Wednesday night saw the discovery of a type Ia supernova 1.1 billion light-years away, and further observations on Thursday night suggested a second type Ia blast slightly closer, some 945 million light years away.
The "Star Parties" across the country were hosted by community groups and organisations in every state and territory, from remote outback locations to metropolitan centres.
They included large public events in Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra, in 14 universities, over 100 schools and eight observatories.
All registered participants will receive a certificate from Guinness World Records.
Photo:
People flocked to Queensland's Roma St Parklands for the May 23, 2018, stargazing world record attempt. (ABC Open contributor: Jess Cuddihy)
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