Supernova in the bowl of Virgo: SN2020ftl

[John]

Not the best transparency here but worth a shot at SN2020ftl with my 12 inch dob I thought.

 

I managed to get the brighter pair of NGC 4281 and 4273 fairly easily laying N of a close triangle of stars. After a while, using high power (318x) I picked up the dimmer NGC 4268 and two faint star like points laying just W of NGC 4273. I think the N most of these was probably the supernova rather than the core of NGC 4277. Barely detected any sign of the home galaxy. The star N of the supernova suspect was magnitude 13.55 I believe and the suspect point of light was dimmer - maybe magnitude 14.2 or so ?.

 

I found this sketch which shows the area quite well and the SN. I can't find who created it though otherwise I'd give them credit for it:

 

[mdstuart]

John

That ties in with my observation. I could see the two star like points to the side of NGC 4273 as well. I could make out the host galaxy with averted vision. Very rich field of galaxies!

Mark

[Paul73]

That is some very faint work! Good spot. Possibly a step too far for my sky/eyes.

The forecast is looking good for tomorrow though....

Paul

[Littleguy80]

Well done, John! This is on my list of targets next time time it’s clear. Possibly tonight or tomorrow. I feel a bit more hopeful regarding my prospects of seeing it now. The sketch will be very helpful. Thank you for sharing 

[Stu]

Nicely done John! A good one to get, too bright around here to even get close unfortunately.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks John for showing this chart. Last night I used my 6" Newt and observed many DSOs. I decided that tonight I would set up the 12" Dob to view galaxies in Virgo. Your post has now changed my proposals and I will now seek out these galaxies on the chart and hopefully pick up the SN.

[John]

I got this supernova again tonight. Similar observing conditions and the same scope. It seems a touch easier to pick up but that might just be because I now know where to look and what to look for.

The SN is still a touch fainter than the magnitude 13.55 star just to the S of it so still around mag 14 I'd say.

265x (Ethos 6mm) is doing the best job tonight. Nice wide field of view despite the high power.

 

[Littleguy80]

I gave this a really good go last night but without success. Best reading on the SQM-L was 19.91 but dropped to around 19.5 in the direction on Virgo. I was picking up the mag 13 star close by and what appeared to be a dim glow from the galaxy. Maybe the SN was in there but I didn't see enough for a positive id though. I'll have another chance tonight. If I get to it a little earlier then it should be in a slightly better part of the sky. Hopefully enough to see it. Wish I could go to my dark site, I'm sure I'd get it there.

Glad you got another view of it, John!