Happy beginning of the week to you; some surprises coming up starting tomorrow — stay tuned. Today I am sharing a lovely image of the galaxy M101 in Ursa Major shot by astronomy students of the University of Delaware at Mount Cuba Observatory, near Greenville. Judi Provencal of the University of Delaware’s physics department sent the pic, which shows the galaxy’s nucleus, spiral arms, and the brilliant supernova the galaxy has recently sported (the brightest star below the galaxy’s center).
Credit: Judi Provencal/University of Delaware
The image was made with the observatory’s 24-inch scope and is a combination of blue, visual, and red filtered exposures taken September 15, 2011.
Thanks, Judi!