SN2013bu in NGC 7331

[nytecam]

Supernova SN2013bu was discovered over three weeks ago in NGC 7331 [Deer Lick Gp] currently low in the north. Stayed up this morning for my first attempt to record it low in the NE over the London murk - my final target of a brief session.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice capture. How bright is it?

[nytecam]

Nice capture. How bright is it?

Bright SNe website quotes mag ~15.5

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Bright SNe website quotes mag ~15.5

Well beyond my scope visually, then. All the brightest ones seem to be going off in the Southern hemisphere this year.

[farunj]

Just a question. How do you identify that it's a supernova?

[nytecam]

Thanks everyone for your interest

Just a question. How do you identify that it's a supernova?

When discovered usually very close to a gxy by amateur or pro, it's a just a "suspect supernova" [sN] in the pro listings and needs a professional hi-res spectrogram to confirm its spectrum has the characteristics of Type I or Type II SN.

Interlopers in the fov view like faint asteroids, galactic nova or variable star like a Mira variable in the line of sight can be elliminated via [asteroidal] movement or again their spectrum which is quite different from SN.

SN types tend to shine at a constant max brightness eg "standard candles" from which their distance can be gauged and against the SN's redshift - a miss match of the two in recent years has indicated the universe's rate of expansion is not constant and amateurs through their many brighter SN discoveries [usually nearer to earth] have indirectly contributed to this research ! Hope that helps