Was it coincidental that you saw a star tearing itself apart or was it monitered? if so how did you moniter it?

Question: Was it coincidental that you saw a star tearing itself apart or was it monitered? if so how did you moniter it?
- Keywords:
  discovery,
  research,
  star
Asked by horsecat to Nick on 11 Mar 2014.
- Nick Wright answered on 11 Mar 2014:
  
  It was actually coincidental. We were surveying a large area of the sky for things like this, but we hadn’t expected to find this dying star in this location – it was quite lucky in that respect!

Question: Was it coincidental that you saw a star tearing itself apart or was it monitered? if so how did you moniter it?