Supernovae in Leo and Virgo

[John]

Another nice clear and dark night here.

Got the 12 inch dob out mainly to see if I could still see SN2020hvf in NGC3643 (Leo) and SN2020jfo in Messier 61 (Virgo).

In short, I have managed to spot both of these. 2020hvf is still magnitude 12.4 I think (same as Monday) and 2020jfo I feel may be a touch brighter than on Monday night but still a rather dim. I reckon it was nearly the same as a mag 13.6 star close to it so perhaps 13.8 or something like that ?

Apparently Messier 61 has hosted no fewer than 8 supernovae that we know of.  

Nice Sky & Telescope piece on these two supernovae here:

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/supernovae-light-up-m61-ngc-3643/

I reckon the brighter of these could be seen with a 6 inch scope under a good dark sky. You probably  won't see the host galaxy NGC3643 though - that is magnitude 14.9 which is beyond my 12 inch scope under my skies.

Edit: Not 100% sure now about the magnitude of NGC 3643. I've seen a number of values between 13.6 and 14.9. I can't see it with my 12 inch scope tonight so I suspect visually it's mag 14 or dimmer.

 

[John]

Superb night here.

Added a swathe of galaxies, globular clusters and planetary nebulae to the above supernovae sightings. One of the best deep sky nights for sometime. Cold though so I've packed in and I'm warming up.

Snapped my "tools" mid-session. All the big guns got to play in the 12 inch dob tonight

[Mark at Beaufort]

Great report John. Like you I went for the two SNs and as you say SN2020hvf in NGC3643 (Leo) is brighter than the nearby star and the estimate of 12.4 is about right. Although I was using my 12" Dob I also tried with the 6" Newt. Not easy and I was getting fleeting suggestion of the brighter SN.

Over to Virgo and SN2020jfo - good sight of the galaxy and although I could some stars on the edge it was difficult to determine which was the SN. Used various EPs and the most enjoyable view was with a 10mm Celestron Ultima Duo - yes even better than my Ethos EPs!!!  Hopefully, I might receive the Baader 10mm Ortho to have another go at this SN.

It was a brilliant night and had a fantastic view of the Leo triplet. However, viewing M5 just blew me away especially with the 9mm Myraid. Finally, I viewed the GC NGC 5897 in Libra - well worth a look.

[John]

Great stuff Mark

For me, I've found that the key to SN2020jfo is the right angle it forms with the galactic core and the star just to the S of the galaxy. I've marked what I look for - the green lines are the angle that I look for which rules out the other faint star that can be seen at a more acute angle (red line). Hope that helps a bit. I think this one is still brightening. Below is the newtonian view:

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks John that is a very useful diagram. Its looking good again for tonight (fingers crossed). 

[Stardaze]

19 hours ago, John said:

Superb night here.

Added a swathe of galaxies, globular clusters and planetary nebulae to the above supernovae sightings. One of the best deep sky nights for sometime. Cold though so I've packed in and I'm warming up.

Snapped my "tools" mid-session. All the big guns got to play in the 12 inch dob tonight

Check out the poor relative in that lot 😆

Go on then, 31mm down to...

[John]

31mm, 21mm, 17mm (the ES 92), 13mm, 8mm and 6mm.

Up to now I have found the ES 17mm 92 a rather frustrating eyepiece. Excellent performance but I have struggled with the eye positioning. Last night however it all fell into place much better and I found it good to use and a fitting companion to the black and green ones

Definitely the best ES eyepiece that I've used so far.