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Supernova Discovered

Posted by timothy on from the amateur-hour's-brightest-stars dept.

hey! writes: "A supernova was found last Wednesday in the M74 galaxy (announcment can be found here :http://www.aavso.org/newsflash/nf904.shtml. It is not visible to the naked eye, but was discovered with at 10 inch telescope and is getting brighter -- it may be visible in amateur instruments as small as 4", according to Lew Gramer of the IAAC list. More information is available at seds.org including a very nice before and after picture."

2 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Re:When did it happen? by cybrpnk · · Score: 5, Informative

    M74 is 30 million light years away so this supernova went off 30 million years ago. This is about 15 times farther away than the Andromeda galaxy, which is the closest "true" galaxy to the Milky Way.

    No criticism intended, but if you are wondering if something visible in a distant galaxy occurred days, weeks or months ago, you need to get a fast update on just how BIG the universe is. I recommend a quick trip to the Powers of Ten website....

  2. Might be hypernova by eclectro · · Score: 5, Informative

    This promises to be one of the brightest supernova in a long time. I hope they point the hubble torwards it.

    There is an excellent site that will track the progress of this supernova here

    Space.com has an article about hypernova here. More detail about hypernova mechanics are here and here

    If they can catch a Gamma-Ray Burst with this object, then this will be a pretty big deal.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"