Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5471
Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf, Stephen Heliczer FRAS
Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf
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Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf

Revision title: Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf

Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf, Stephen Heliczer FRAS
Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf
Powered byPixInsight

Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf

Revision title: Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf

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Supernova!  A new supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy, aka M101, is the closest to Earth in a decade. It was discovered two days ago by Koichi Itagaki and named 2023ixf.  I took this image last night.  Galaxy M101 is 21 million light-years away. Even though it just appeared to us on Earth Friday, this event occurred 21 million years ago! A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion and occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a super-massive star or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original star either collapses to form a neutron star or black hole, or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula. The peak optical luminosity of a supernova is often comparable to that of the entire galaxy before fading over several weeks. This is a single star appears as bright as the stars in our own galaxy (only) 1,000 LY away. The "explosion" is producing all the heavy elements in the periodic table. A similar Supernova happened in our own galaxy created all the elements in the Periodic Table, some of which were required to create life on Earth.

Taken in Bortal 7/8, light polluted North London back garden.

Captured with Edge HD 8 with FR, ZWO ASI294MC and Antlia RGB filter.

Three hours, 90 seconds per sub.

Gear:
Celestron HD8 with 0.7 focal reducer
Celestron C-Gem DXII Mount
ZWO ASI294mc Pro
Sharpcap, APP etc

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Galaxy M101 Supernova 2023ixf, Stephen Heliczer FRAS