Supernova 2011by

[george7378]

I (think!) I found the galaxy and saw the Supernova - my best estimate would put it at about 13.5, although the photometry puts it at 13.8 still. I did a drawing (just to make sure I actually was looking at the right dot among the thousands I must have surfed through).

The galaxy was actually quite hard to find - luckily it is very close to two other galaxies. I found the 11th magnitude NGC 3998 first, and then the 12th magnitude NGC 3982, and then began to move around the region until the dimmer NGC 3972 became visible. I was confident I was looking at the right galaxy when I saw that it had a cigar-type shape to it, just like in the pictures.

It was very dim and hard to see - I could only see it properly when I used averted vision. I printed off a map of the region and found some of the star patterns on the map. The Supernova was actually much easier to see than the galaxy itself - I could see it without averted vision, but I needed to look around a bit to see the small and dim galaxy.

Here's my drawing of it - the SN was sitting nicely in the outside of the galaxy. Also, I'd appreciate it if anyone could please confirm that this definitely is the SN!:

[acey]

Well done - you got it!

I also viewed the supernova last night, with a 12" f4.9 Flextube, sky brightness 21.5MAS (equivalent NELM 6.4).

Like you I started by finding 3998 and 3982, both very bright in the same field of my 32mm eyepiece. 3972 was faintly visible in the same field and was easily seen at medium power. Using an 8-24mm zoom I also picked up the fainter 3977 and 3990 which also lie in the same field. 3990 was in fact visible at low power as a fuzzy star.

All the galaxies are round except 3972 which is elongated as you've sketched it. I saw the supernova as lying within the galaxy disc, very easily visible and to some extent drowning out the galaxy, which appears to be of rather low surface brightness.

[george7378]

Oh right - thanks for letting me know, and thanks for your report. My scope was quite wet with dew when it was finally dark enough to observe it, so I will try again tonight and see if I can see the dimmer galaxies too.

[callisto]

I think I'll give this a go tonight

[george7378]

I'm coming back for another look tonight too.

[george7378]

Here's my report from last night (01/05/11):

I waited for it to get dark, and at about 22:30, I started my search to find it again. It was easy to find the bright star Phad (my scope was pointing straight up - the supernova actually crossed the point right above my head during the night, putting it in the perfect place to observe it) and then hop to the bright galaxies NGC 3998 and NGC 3982, and finally find the faint smudge of the host galaxy NGC 3972. The conditions were better tonight, and I could also see NGC 3990 - the companion to 3998, and I sometimes glimpsed the very faint NGC 3977 just under the supernova's host galaxy.

Once I found the galaxy, I could easily see the supernova in its outskirts - just like another star in the sky. It would be impossible to tell it apart from one of the much closer foreground stars if it wasn't for the star maps.

I waited until about 22:55 to take a guess at its brightness, just to make sure it was properly dark. There is a mag. 13.5 star just next to the galaxy and I looked for a couple of minutes, and it looked pretty much the same, so my guess for the 1st May 2011 at 22:55 BST is 13.5, +/- 0.1 magnitudes. After writing down the time, estimated brightness and comparison stars, I took the time to admire it.

This is one of those things that reminds me just how incomprehensibly powerful the universe we live in is - my mind just can't grasp how powerful and distant that single point of light is - I have to keep reminding myself what I'm seeing - a single star visible among hundreds of billions in a very distant galaxy - one star, shining proudly from tens of millions of lightyears distant, when the combined effort one hundred billion others creates nothing but a faint smudge of light in the black of space. The fact that we are able to see this powerful beacon from such a distance makes me wonder who else has seen it. Did the inhabitants of NGC 3972 see their skies transformed by the presence of a 'second Sun'? Have any of the other surrounding galaxies visible to the edge of the field of view seen and catalogued it? If they did, then it will most likely have been lost in time, as it will have happened millions of years ago for them.

Happy observing!

[lukebl]

Good report. Do you have particularly dark skies? I struggle in my location with my 250mm Newt fainter than about mag 12.5, and haven't managed yet to see this one visually, although I captured it photographically and it seems as bright as the adjacent stars of mag 13.5.

Another mind-boggling thought is that we're witnessing something which happened millions of years before human beings even evolved!

[george7378]

Hi, I'd say that my local LP is better than average - my limiting magnitude was above 5.5 on the night of the 1st May. Yes - the light has been coming towards us during the lives of every person before us!

I observed it again last night (03/05/11 @ 22:17 BST) and it seems to have brightened a few tenths of a magnitude above the stars next to it. I couldn't deceide on 13.2 or 13.1, so I put it at 13.15. I submitted this to the AAVSO, and looked at the SN's graph, and my guess seems to fit the trend.

[Jon65]

Hi George,

Thanks for posting this thread and your sketch.

I had my SW 250PX out last night for the first time in a few weeks after some very poor seeing conditions over this last week or more.

Conditions were good last night and estimated around mag 5 overhead at around 2300UT.

I started looking for NGC 3998 with about x60 magnification and a LP filter and was pleased to find it fairly quickly along with 3892 in the e/p view.I switched to higher power x150 and with a lot of studying in the area soon teased out 3972,averted vision showed it best but the Supernova showed really well. Really pleased as this was my first real time view of a Supernova through the telescope.

Amazing view through the eyepiece especially as it is recorded in the Ursa Major North group of galaxies at about 55 million LY away.

Jon

[acey]

George - I also re-observed the SN (AT 2.45a.m. on Wednesday 4 May) and found it to have brightened. I checked the magnitudes of the 2 nearby stars on the opposite side of the galaxy from the SN (visible in your pic) and posted the data here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/1802917-post7.html

Though as the SN continues to brighten, these stars may no longer be the best comparison.

[george7378]

I haven't seen it for a few nights now due to the weather, but the AAVSO graph shows it to be about 12.9 at the moment - it seems to be levelling off too. I hope the weather clears up this weekend so I can get another good look at it!

[george7378]

I took a picture of it with the Bradford Robotic Telescope (Bradford Robotic Telescope) at 02:59 BST on Saturday 7th May - you can see NGC 3972 and surrounding galaxies, plus the bright supernova - it has brightened far above the 13.5 star now - I'd put it at around mag. 13:

The image is copyrighted to the BRT, and processed by me in GIMP.

[lukebl]

Still brightening! It's now at mag 12.5 and still rising, according to Latest Supernovae.

[lunator]

George

Excellent sketch and image. I hope you can get a new image showing the brightening.

Cheers

Ian

[mdstuart]

NGC 3998 and 3990 were easy to spot, NGC 3982 but I could not spot NGC3972 but my scetch did pick up the supernova....

Mark

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Brilliant stuff. I was down-under until recently, so missed this. Is it fading yet?

[george7378]

I think it's still above mag. 13, but it's now fading. I haven't seen it for a while now due to weather and short nights, which was disappointing as I missed the maximum.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I spotted it is mag 13. It should be in range of the C8. Just hoping the weather holds.