We here at SheHeroes we love to see women doing amazing things. But if there’s something we love even more, it’s young women doing amazing things! Which is why we had to give a big SheHero shout out to 10-year old Kathryn Aurora Gray of Fredericton, New Brunswick. Kathryn kicked off 2011 by becoming the youngest person ever to ever discover a stellar explosion, better known as a Supernova.

Supernova 2010 is a magnitude 17 supernova in galaxy UGC 3378 in the constellation of Camelopardalis, as reported on IAU Electronic Telegram 2618. The galaxy was imaged on New Year’s Eve 2010, and the supernova was discovered on January 2, 2011 by Kathryn and her father astronomer Paul Gray and astronomer David Lane.

Supernovas are stellar explosions that signal the violent deaths of

Stars several times more massive than our sun.

What makes the discovery even more astonishing then the fact it was made by 10-year old Gray is the rarity of the discovery. The most recent Supernova that occurred in our galaxy happened 140 years ago. Previously, the last known supernova in our galaxy occurred around 1680.

What an amazing discovery! We want to give Kathryn a big round of applause from all of us at SheHeroes. Hopefully this is only the beginning of what is sure to be an amazing career for her.

If your daughter is interested in space or science be sure and share Kathryn’s story with her. You never know who the next great female astronomer is going to be!