Messier 101 is a beautiful spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa major. On May 19, 2023, the light of the supernova SN 2023ixf in one of the spiral arms reached us. It was a type II supernova, i.e. caused by a collapsing star of large mass.
SN 2023ixf was so bright that it could be photographed with a small telescope. And since M 101 is a popular object to photograph, many of us also have pictures before the supernova erupted.
For this picture, I reprocessed my images before, during and after the outburst and enlarged the section with the supernova for comparison. The photo from May 2021 was taken with a small refractor (115 mm aperture, 800 mm focal length), the other two photos were taken with a Celestron EdgeHD 9.25” with 2350 mm focal length.
Despite the difference in quality, you can clearly see that no star was visible at the location of the supernova before the outburst. In March 2024, almost a year after the event, a bright object was still visible.
I very much hope that the weather will cooperate in spring and that I can take another picture.
For the technical details of the photos, please see my corresponding publications:
May 2021: M101May 2023: Pinwheel Galaxy with Supernova SN2023ixf Spectrum: Comparison Spectra of Supernovae Type Ia and II
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