He is also a former ZYGO optician and telescope maker and now lives in Hampden, Maine, USA.
SN 2005ay, was a relatively nearby type II-P (plateau) supernova caught soon after explosion.
Extensive observations of SN 2005ay in galaxy NGC 3938, with the GALEX Space Telescope and numerous land-based telescopes, helped astronomers confirm the theory that type II-P supernovae can be used as "standard candles" - a way to measure distances to distant galaxies.
[citation needed] Another unique discovery, SN2010al, was a rare explosion of a Wolf-Rayet Star in galaxy UGC 4286.
This find, also discovered at an early stage, was influential[citation needed] in establishing a new supernova sub-classification - the type Ibn.