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How obvious visually is the SN in M82

Scooot

By Scooot
in Observing - Deep Sky

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Scooot

Scooot

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post-20507-0-06214500-1390776187_thumb.j

I've just spent the best part of an hour looking at m82, first at 69x then 48x. I thought I saw the super nova easily at first but then I thought I was looking at the nearby star BD +70 587 on my star chart. I've been looking at the visual magnitudes of the nearby stars, all of which I could see, and they range from 9 to 12. As the SN is meant to be about 11 I would have thought I would see it easily. I had a look at a few other things to check what the seeing was like, m1 for example was fairly clear.

So I'm a bit confused as to whether I was looking at it or not. I'd welcome any comments on how obvious it is.

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Paul73

Paul73

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Richard

Have a look at a few of the predicovery images here (and Nick's sketches of course). They haven't had too much work done on them so give you a good idea what you will actually see through the eyepiece. There are some good pre/post discovery comparisons. Once you know exactly what you are looking for, it pops out fairly easily.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/206281-could-this-be-the-first-amateur-image-of-sn2014j-in-m82/

Good luck

Paul

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Scooot

Scooot

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Thanks again both of you. I'm sure I was looking at it now, as you say it's very obvious but after I looked at the star chart I began to wonder whether I was looking at the closest star instead. I'll have another look when its clear.

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John

John

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A bit of magnification does help make this point of light stand out. Low power is good for finding the host galaxy (M82 in this case) but medium power makes the SN and comparison stars easier to spot. I found 79x gave me a clear view of it with my 4" refractor last night whereas the SN was very much less distinct at 20x, which was my low power finder eyepiece last night.

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mjpfc

mjpfc

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As Nick's sketch shows, there are two stars close to the galaxy which seem to point to the SN which is therefore on the end of a line of three. It's a big help in picking it out

Kerry

As Kerry says, its the inner most of a line of three

The Supernova stands out against the bright mid plane of the Galaxy itself.

The next star is significantly dimmer and is against the dark, dusty periphery of the galaxy.

The furthest one is now only slightly brighter and clear of M82, I generally Know I'm looking at the right fuzz in skies of grim seeing

Mick

when I see the position of this star near to it.

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Scooot

Scooot

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A bit of magnification does help make this point of light stand out. Low power is good for finding the host galaxy (M82 in this case) but medium power makes the SN and comparison stars easier to spot. I found 79x gave me a clear view of it with my 4" refractor last night whereas the SN was very much less distinct at 20x, which was my low power finder eyepiece last night.

Thanks John, when I started to doubt myself I did wonder whether I should try 120x but I was running out of time cloud wise and I was still feeling a bit jet lagged so didn't bother. I had no problems seeing the galaxy, it was just as obvious as usual, so I must have been looking at the SN after all, but I'm now relying on my memory after the event, so I need to go back and have another look when I can.

Thank you Kerry and Mick for your input as well.

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cotterless45

cotterless45

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It's very simple to locate and worth trying a sketch. This is the fourth visit and it's brightening up and worth keeping an eye on ! This is the brightest easily visible SN for 20 years and we are very privileged to see the events of 11 1/2 million years ago unfold before us . Just need

Clear skies !

Nick.

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Scooot

Scooot

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Tonight is the first time I've managed to get out with my scope since. I knew I didn't have long before the clouds roll in so I went straight to m82, but this time I looked with my 10mm and as everyone said its really obvious. I suppose being in the galaxy itself it was a bit easier to spot for the first time than usual, but I take my hat off to those that spot them in deep space amongst all the other stars.

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John

John

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Tonight is the first time I've managed to get out with my scope since. I knew I didn't have long before the clouds roll in so I went straight to m82, but this time I looked with my 10mm and as everyone said its really obvious. I suppose being in the galaxy itself it was a bit easier to spot for the first time than usual, but I take my hat off to those that spot them in deep space amongst all the other stars.

The last observed one that happened in our galaxy was in 1604 I believe.

We are overdue one, they say   :smiley:

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Scooot

Scooot

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The last observed one that happened in our galaxy was in 1604 I believe.

We are overdue one, they say   :smiley:

I didn't know that, I need to do some more reading -:)

I didn't really think about it properly but I think you're pointing out that if we saw one in deep space as I said, it would be in our galaxy.

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Stu

Stu

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I didn't know that, I need to do some more reading -:)

I didn't really think about it properly but I think you're pointing out that if we saw one in deep space as I said, it would be in our galaxy.

That's right, a SN in our galaxy would be pretty bright and easy to notice I imagine, unless it was hidden behind a load of dust towards the galactic centre.

Anything else would almost certainly be within another galaxy so much more remote.

I've no idea whether a SN could occur in a globular cluster surrounding our galaxy or M31 for instance.

Stu

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SwampStar

SwampStar

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For various reasons (which I won't bore you with) tonight has been the first time I've managed to get the scope out since Christmas. I've been drooling reading about this SN in M82, as I've not seen one before. I know it's dimming, but is it possible that I could still have seen it tonight. 130 scope with 25mm eyepiece and reasonable skies, although I did have to cup the eyepiece with my hand because of a streetlight. Found 81 & 82 very easily and a definite bright spot in there. Still visible or am I seeing things?!?!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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C7tsj

C7tsj

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That's right, a SN in our galaxy would be pretty bright and easy to notice I imagine, unless it was hidden behind a load of dust towards the galactic centre.

Anything else would almost certainly be within another galaxy so much more remote.

I've no idea whether a SN could occur in a globular cluster surrounding our galaxy or M31 for instance.

Stu

Sounds about the same as I seen over a week ago. My scope doesn't have the same light capture so it appeared much fainter at that time but at least I got the chance to says I seen the SN! Well done.

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wolfpaw

wolfpaw

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I saw it again about 30 minutes ago! It's dimmer than it was when I first saw it a couple of weeks back but still very noticeable, especially with averted vision. I was also pretty chuffed that I spotted the two other nearby galaxies: NGC 3077 & 2976.

If anyone's not caught the supernova yet then it's still there to be seen.

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