As I described on Friday, a type Ia supernova discovered Wednesday, August 24, in the nearby galaxy M101 in Ursa Major is the nearest type Ia supernova astronomers have found since 1972. The brightness of this exploding star is on the rise, and it could be visible in binoculars within a week or so.
Credit:
Anthony Ayiomamitis
Late on Friday, our good friend Anthony Ayiomamitis in Greece, a superb astroimager, sent his latest picture of the galaxy and its attendant supernova, which is reproduced here. Anthony shot six sample images of the field and estimated the supernova’s brightness at magnitude 13.3 on Friday evening. For full details on the image, see:
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-Supernovae-SN2011fe-20110826.htm.
Let us know at
Astronomy about your observations of the M101 supernova over the coming days and please send us any photos you take — we’ll be publishing them online and sharing them with the largest audience of amateur astronomers on the planet.
You can send images and observations to
editor@astronomy.com and to our photo editor Michael Bakich at
readergallery@astronomy.com. You can also post your observations in the comments section below. Thank you, and enjoy!