A dramatic cosmic event, a rare dwarf nova that suddenly brightened by a factor of 2,500, has been discovered with the help of everyday skywatchers through the Kilonova Seekers project. Often described as playing astronomical “spot the difference,

Oregon is well-known as a destination for stargazers. The state has an array of designated Dark Sky places, where amateur astronomers and other night sky enthusiasts can observe meteor showers, photograph the Milk Way and, yes, spot an asteroid or two.

Now, astronomers have announced the project’s first major published find in Astronomy & Astrophysics: a brilliant exploding star observed in near real-time. Now known as GOTO0650, astronomers have determined the cosmic body is a cataclysmic variable star—one whose brightness increased by 2,