Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5447  ·  NGC 5449  ·  NGC 5450  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5453  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5462  ·  NGC 5471  ·  PGC 2468609  ·  PGC 2469762  ·  Pinwheel galaxy
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Pinwheel Galaxy 2023ixf Supernova LRGB with Ha Overlay, JDAstroPhoto
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Pinwheel Galaxy 2023ixf Supernova LRGB with Ha Overlay

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Pinwheel Galaxy 2023ixf Supernova LRGB with Ha Overlay, JDAstroPhoto
Powered byPixInsight

Pinwheel Galaxy 2023ixf Supernova LRGB with Ha Overlay

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Description

******************* Episode 12 reminder
Sometime between Wednesday 5/17 at 4:23 am Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) (5/17 11:23 am UTC) and Thursday 5/18 8:58 pm PDT (5/19 3:58 am UTC) one of the stars (21 million lightyears away) in the Pinwheel Galaxy went Supernova.  It exploded with so much energy that we can view that individual explosion on earth.  Since I was imaging continuously with 10 minute exposures, I created a time lapse starting Tuesday and completing on Sunday.  
You can view that timelapse by clicking the link below
Pinwheel Galaxy 2023ixf Supernova Time Lapse (169 images 10min each)
********************End Reminder
Episode 13, I was imaging the Pinwheel Galaxy for 6 nights (Tues May 16 - Sunday May 21) 6 nights at San Diego County Agua Caliente Hot Springs campground and I captured 2023ixf Supernova while it was happening in real time (although it did take the light 21 million years to get here).  Agua Caliente Hot Springs is a Bortle 2-3, full hookup campsite in the desert within the Julian limits.  In this Episode I calibrated and registered the images together with a blinking Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) overlay.  These 2 images were created out of the 196 - 10 minute frames that I collected from 5/16/2023 - 5/21/2023. The first image is Luminance, Red, Green,  Blue (LRGB) and the second is LRGB with Hydrogen Alpha (Ha).  As you  see them blink back and forth, notice the Ha (red) regions).  These are the hydrogen rich Nebula regions within the Pinwheel galaxy where star formation is very active.  What I can conclude is the 2023ixf Supernova is in part of the galaxy where there is little to no Ha, meaning little to no star formation and most likely older stars in that location.  So the Supernova occurred in an older part of the Pinwheel galaxy, where star formation used up most of the Ha and most of the star formation was concluded millennium ago.  This makes intuitive sense since a star goes Supernova at the end of its life when it has burned up most of its primary fuel (Hydrogen).  I highlighted the Supernova in the LRGB image in yellow (it is in both images, but I highlighted only one).  The Supernova is extremely hot and blue in color.  

I captured this astronomical data using wide band (visible light) Lum, Red, Green, Blue and Narrow Band Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) 3 nanometer filter over 6 nights, 5/16/2023, 5/17/2023, 5/18/2023, 5/19/2023, 5/20/2023 and 5/21/2023 from Agua Caliente Springs Campground (Bortle 2-3 light pollution rating).
Chroma Blue 50 mm: 45×600″(7h 30′)
Chroma Green 50 mm: 45×600″(7h 30′)
Chroma H-alpha 3nm Bandpass 50 mm: 27×600″(4h 30′)
Chroma Lum 50 mm: 35×600″(5h 50′)
Chroma Red 50 mm: 44×600″(7h 20′)
Total Imaging Time = 32h 40min
Total 10 minute frames = 196

Click on the image, Top right click on full resolution to see it in more detail.

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