New Mag 13.5 Supernova in NGC 2146

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just spotted this news on the new supernovae page:

http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/supernova.html#2018zd

It is magnitude 13.5, and placed at declination 78 deg 22' it should be easy for us northern observers. I hope to get it coming Thursday, should the weather forecast be accurate

[eekeek]

Thanks for sharing. Completely new to me so forgive me if this sounds daft. What could I do with this info?

I've read the link and seen the directions from the NGC, so think I could find it. Is it likely to change brightness over time and then fade away again? How quickly will it change? Anyway of knowing?

So I could try and photograph it and compare over a few nights. Any techniques or filters etc that would help? Or is this something to leave to the spectroscopists?

Or just look at it and marvel that I'm looking at an star exploding!

[alanjgreen]

18 minutes ago, eekeek said:

Is it likely to change brightness over time and then fade away again?

How quickly will it change? Anyway of knowing?

If you check the info then the SN is listed as a "type II" (type 2)

Then reading up on "type II"...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_II_supernova#Light_curves_for_Type_II-L_and_Type_II-P_supernovae

"These light curves have an average decay rate of 0.008 magnitudes per day"

Depending on your scope, it should be visible for a couple of months.

Alan

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I will try to get make some charts using the AAVSO tools for variable stars, to make finding the object easier. Will have to do that tomorrow, however

[eekeek]

9 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

I will try to get make some charts using the AAVSO tools for variable stars, to make finding the object easier. Will have to do that tomorrow, however

Thank you again. Obviously as there is something in the sky I'm excited to see, heavy rain is forecast for 24h.

[Demonperformer]

All too true. 

[tooth_dr]

Quick photo just taken off screen

Thanks for the heads up Michael. 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Here are some charts. First: 3 deg FOV, north up east left as in my RACI finder, with stars down to mag 11, with and without DSS image overlaid:

 

Second: 1 deg FOV (roughly my Nagler 22 T4 FOV), orientation as in my SCT: North up east right, stars down to mag 14.0. Plotted both with and without the DSS image:

To make your own map use this tool: https://www.aavso.org/apps/vsp/

Happy hunting!!

[tooth_dr]

Quick process this morning.  Need to stop trying to image these things with the ED80 lol.

 

 

 

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Why stop, when you have clearly captured it? I will need my C8 to see it, but might want to see if I can image it with the APM 80mm (if skies clear Wednesday and Sunday night now look best

[tooth_dr]

1 minute ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Why stop, when you have clearly captured it? I will need my C8 to see it, but might want to see if I can image it with the APM 80mm (if skies clear Wednesday and Sunday night now look best

I have a bigger scope, just to lazy last night to swop it over last night as I didnt go out until midnight!  Clear skies for this week.

[Mark at Beaufort]

This afternoon I downloaded a photo produced by Stan Howerton then inverted the photo into Black and White. I set up the 12" Dob and used the Interstellarum atlas to star hop to the galaxy. 

Using a 20mm Myraid I was able to indentify the stars in the photo then I switch to the 13mm Ethos and 9mm Myriad to try and see the SN.

Well I succeeded - its was at the limit of the seeing tonight but the location was the same so a successful observing of the SN.

Just made a formal recording in my log which shows the second SN this year. Should have said thanks Michael for the 'heads up'.

 

 

[Stu]

11 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

This afternoon I downloaded a photo produced by Stan Howerton then inverted the photo into Black and White. I set up the 12" Dob and used the Interstellarum atlas to star hop to the galaxy. 

Using a 20mm Myraid I was able to indentify the stars in the photo then I switch to the 13mm Ethos and 9mm Myriad to try and see the SN.

Well I succeeded - its was at the limit of the seeing tonight but the location was the same so a successful observing of the SN.

 

 

Great effort Mark, must have been very rewarding to get it!

[25585]

Expecting snow as forecast later this week

[Saganite]

21 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

Quick process this morning.  Need to stop trying to image these things with the ED80 lol.

 

 

 

 

Why ?

It is a great capture.

[Littleguy80]

Had a go at seeing this last night. It clouded over early evening while I was looking at Orion so set my alarm for 2am. About 2:15am the sky cleared. I spent probably an hour searching the area with different magnifications. I referred to @tooth_dr‘s excellent image several times. Would never have gotten close without it. I could pick the galaxy up faintly with averted vision. Transparency was pretty poor. A few times I picked up a point of light in the area. Could have been the supernova but I was never able to pick up enough of the stars around it for confidence in identifying it. The 6mm BGO at 200x got me closest to seeing it though the galaxy was clearer at 150x with the 8mm BST.  I took a look at M13 afterwards and this looked dimmer than last week which again went to show that transparency wasn’t great. Had a nice look at Jupiter too before crawling back into bed around 4am. Getting up for work wasn’t fun this morning  

With better conditions, I’m sure I’ll get this one. Thanks again to @tooth_dr for sharing the image  

[Mark at Beaufort]

Neil I hope you get another chance in the next few days. This was the diagram I used last night to find the SN. 

[Littleguy80]

5 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Neil I hope you get another chance in the next few days. This was the diagram I used last night to find the SN. 

Thank you, Mark. Good diagram! It gives me a bit more confidence that I was picking up the SN. I wanted to pick up the line of stars of similar magnitude running to the right of the SN to properly identify it. Forecast not looking good at the moment which is partly why I got up early to give it a go. Fingers crossed it improves. 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Got it just now. Quite hard, but picked up a flicker of light on the edge of the galaxy where there shouldn't be a star that bright according to my AAVSO chart. Repeated the observation three times, so that bags SN number 13. I also tried SN 2018 YU in NGC 1888, but that was beyond my scope given the low altitude.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Nice one Michael. Not clear in Hereford, in fact its snowing again.  I am hopeful I might get another chance with the 12" Dob

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

10 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Nice one Michael. Not clear in Hereford, in fact its snowing again.  I am hopeful I might get another chance with the 12" Dob

Cheers Mark. Should the skies clear, your 12" Dob should be able to get SN2018yu as well.

[Littleguy80]

A 2am start went unrewarded on the SN hunt. The forecast didn’t deliver and cloud just got worse and worse. Briefly saw NGC 2146. Transparency looked much better. Had the clouds stayed away, I feel confident I would have got it. Jupiter made up for the disappointment though. Seeing was really steady and I got some awesome views of the GRS. The level of detail on the planet was astounding. The views were fleeting between breaks in the cloud but impressive none the less. Time to grab a few more hours sleep before work!

[Demonperformer]

I'm sure there are many here who can relate to that experience, Neil.

One of the nice things about this hobby is never being totally sure from where the satisfaction is going to come. You go out looking for one thing and find something completely different and "astounding".

[Littleguy80]

On 14/03/2018 at 10:59, Mark at Beaufort said:

Neil I hope you get another chance in the next few days. This was the diagram I used last night to find the SN. 

Tonight was the night! Using the diagram above I finally identified the supernova!! The 6mm BGO at 200x was the winning eyepiece.  It required averted vision but I could pick out enough of the surrounding stars to make a positive identification. Really happy to finally have seen my first supernova  

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well done Neil - its great to see a SN that happened 70 million years ago