Supernova in Cygnus

[Kain]

What a year this is turning out to be. For the 3rd time in 2007 a Nova has exploded in our galaxy and this time it is perfectly placed for us and within range of binoculars and basic digital cameras. Here are the details sent to me from David Moore...

A bright Nova ('new star') in Cygnus was discovered from Japan by Akihiko Tago on the evening of March 15 at magnitude 7.4 (within easy binocular range). Another estimate 24 hours later was magnitude 6.7. It may have peaked? It may brighten to naked eye visibility? It may last days, weeks or months? We will have to see, so do use the charts below, go out and check, and report back to us what you see. Beginners: a nova is a colossal thermonuclear explosion on a faint white dwarf star (the dead core of star, like our Sun will produce in 5 billion years) making it brighten by up to a million times.

The new nova is circumpolar for us, so it never sets as seen from Ireland, but it will be quite low, only 5 degrees up around 9pm when at its worst, due North. You'll see it a little higher, just 7 degrees up, as evening twilight fades away around 7:45pm, low in the North. However, by midnight it will be 12 degrees up in the north-northeast. The nova is at its very highest as morning twilight begins around 5:15am when it will be 50 degrees up in the East. Beginners should locate the constellation Cygnus with the naked eye first and then use binoculars and the maps below to track down the 'new star' where the "+" symbol is. Have fun!

See the chart here....

Taken from Martinastro78 off UKWW

Pretty cool eh!

Kain

[tom.yates]

Thanks for the info Kain will take a look whenever the clouds clear.

[Vega]

Woohoo, will check it out. One of my fav constellations too.

I still wanna see a super in our galaxy one day (not too close tho please). About magnitude -10 will be nice. I will ask the Milky Way gods if they can add it to their list

I cant see it happening myself, I'm just gonna have to settle with gazing at Venus and pretending its a star.

Matt

[geppetto]

Good heads up mate, thanks

[GazOC]

Cheers Kain,

That should be an easy find for binos/ small scope given the location and mag.

Gaz

[Cloudgazer]

Cheers Kain

I'll have a look for it when I get the chance.. too much at the moment.

Scott

[themos]

Is this a garden variety Nova or a very rare Supernova, though?

[Vega]

It's definatly no Supernova

A supernova in our own galaxy spells out a star that is visble in the daytime and casts shadows at night.

[themos]

A supernova in our own galaxy spells out a star that is visble in the daytime and casts shadows at night.

Not necessarily that bright. Kepler's supernova, which was the last galactic supernova as far as I know, was between Sirius and Venus in magnitude.

[Vega]

True, Kepler's supernova reached -2.25 but at an estimated distance of 20,000 light years and an absolute magnitude of -16. There are plenty of closer candidates out there that if supernova'd at an absolute magnitude of -16 their visual magnitude would easily outshine Venus.

If Betelgeuse went up for example.... our night sky is stuffed !

Matt

[Astroman]

Meant to jump in earlier, but couldn't break away. You have to be very careful with nova and supernova terms. They are not interchangable. A nova is an eruption or thermonuclear explosion due to the exchange of matter from one star to its companion star. The variable U Geminorum is an example. A normal star is dumping material onto the white dwarf companioin and when enough material accumulates, it detonates causing the nova. Neither star is destroyed, although sometimes the explosion strips enough material from the donor star that it can not repeat the performance. U Gem is a "recurring" nova and flares up ~105 days apart. It goes from 14 mag up to 8 mag.

Supernovae come in several varieties and have as many causes, but they result in the annhialation of one of the stars. The entire star is normally destroyed, leaving either a neutron star, a pulsar or a black hole, depending on mass. They can go from invisible to naked eye visible in a couple days and take months to fade.