Ongoing Supernova in M61 - May 2020

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I just heard today that we are witnessing a supernova in galaxy M61.
Multiple people have imaged it already.
Incidentally I was on my way out with my telescope anyway when I heard about it and adjusted my observation plans acocordingly.

i still need to sort through the images I’ve taken and process them.
Hope, I have something usable.

anyone with telescope and imaging capabilities can contribute to scientific study for this event.
Also, I’d like to see your pictures.

http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2020/sn2020jfo.html

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I think you mean M61, which is a galaxy in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. M16 is an HII region or emission nebula in Serpens, also known as the Eagle nebula. Eight supernovae have been observed in M61 since its discovery 241 years ago.

The apparent magnitude of this supernova is about 14.5 so it's not visible to the unaided eye. I think you'd need a telescope with a minimum 10" (250mm) diameter objective to image it.

Wikipedia has a photo supposedly showing SN2020jfo with a pointer to its position in M61.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...dia/File:M61_and_SN2020jfo_20200508Marked.jpg

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Yes, of course. Unfortunate typo. It was late when I posted.
So sorry about that.
Changed it in my post and asked for moderator help to correct the title.

 

[dahj]

Well if you thought your 2020 sucked, imagine what it's like to be an alien in that star's system.

(Yes, I know this technically happened ~50 million years ago )

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

More pictures here:
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/353934-supernova-in-m61-sn2020jfo-mag-146/

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

here is my first attempt at capturing the supernova (and M61 galaxy (and a couple more galaxies in the background)).
Didn’t manage to get more than 10 usable images unfortunately.
But someone pointed out to me that even with that you can still see the SN , which is actually incredible.

A single star’s explosion over 50 million light years away.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away indeed...

 

[Santaman]

Awesome.

I hope Betelguese will go supernova, it's about time for the old chap to make a grand finale ... and that we all can see, even without telescopes.