Four supernovae successfully located - NGC4441, NGC4666, NGC4636 & M100

[alanjgreen]

Report of my Virgo supernova hunting from 0200-0400 on morning of Jan 19th 2020.

Equipment: 20" dobsonian f3.6. Televue Delite 18.2mm & PVS14 night vision device.

Outcome: 4 supernovae observed successfully.

 

NGC4441 & SN2019yvq - Supernova obvious and immediately seen. Held in direct vision close in to the core.

M100 & SN2020oi - Bright supernova outshines the core close in and is easily split from the core too. Decent amount of galaxy shape and faint arm structure fills the fov.

NGC4636 & SN2020ue - This is a little trickier as you need to determine which "star" is the supernova. But the supernova "star" is the brightest of the patch of five it sits within. Use the two brightest stars just outside the core to orientate yourself (images were upside down for me). The faint star closest to the core is the hardest to spot and was intermittent for me. The next 2 stars from the core are the most obvious (and the SN is one of these 2). The final 2 stars in the group of five take some staring to get to see but once you locate them you can continue to see them.

NGC4666 & SN2019yvr - The toughest of the bunch! The galaxy is huge and clear in the fov. There is a group of 3 tight stars above (for orientation purposes) and the SN is located underneath away from the flat disk. I had to wait a few seconds before I got a brief glimpse of the SN as the galaxy drifted across the view. I glimpses it 4 more times during my time letting it drift across the fov. A toughie for sure.

http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/supernova.html?#2019yvr

Hope this helps others find them,

Alan

Edited January 24, 2020 by alanjgreen

[Mike JW]

A really helpful and informative report. Mike

[JamesF]

Indeed so.  Assuming I dare stay up sufficiently late on a school night I may well have a look for these later.

James