Supernova in M61

[timwetherell]

Anyone been watching the supernova in M61? I think I could just see it visually in my 7" scope (possibly with averted imagination!) but shows up well in a 15s exposure

[John]

Yep - I've seen it a couple of times now with my 12 inch dobsonian. Quite a tough one for me - needed high magnification (265x) to be sure of it. I could see the two stars below it in the above pic but not the dimmer one above it.

The one in NGC 3643 is brighter but the galaxy is much, much dimmer than M61. I spotted that one last night with my ED120 refractor.

 

 

[timwetherell]

Thought I'd seen it in the 7" but looking at my sketch it's possibly a bit low. In my photo the two foreground stars below look of similar magnitude so if you saw those too, you almost certainly bagged it! Might have another go tonight

[Mark at Beaufort]

Tim I believe I saw it last night. @Johngave me a very useful diagram to identify the stars around the edge of M61. Yesterday the postman delivered a Baader 10mm Ortho which gave a better view of the galaxy than some of my alternative EPs. The 12" Dob was situated in a dark site at the end of my garden and I used a black out hood to improve the situation. So I think I saw it - hopefully, it will get brighter over the next few days/weeks.

[John]

3 hours ago, timwetherell said:

Thought I'd seen it in the 7" but looking at my sketch it's possibly a bit low. In my photo the two foreground stars below look of similar magnitude so if you saw those too, you almost certainly bagged it! Might have another go tonight

Here is the diagram that Mark mentions in case it is any help. I look for the right angle (green lines) between the top star, the galactic core and the SN (red circle). Cloudy here now though

[Owmuchonomy]

What's your estimation of its current mag?

[John]

1st time I observed it I reckoned around mag 14.5. 2nd time (couple of nights back) I reckoned it might have brightened to 14.0 or even the high 13's. Latest estimates have it still around that.

 

 

[bottletopburly]

Imaged last night one shot shows Starlink going right through the supernova will dig that shot out.

[rl]

Taken 2200 UT approx 15 may 2020

8" Newtonian, 900mm focal length, 7 *60 sec lights, 4*60 sec darks, QHY183C camera, Orion skyglow imaging filter, centre crop. Galaxy is about 6 arcmin diameter. Supernova is the 2nd star up of the 4 in a vertical line just to the left of the galaxy

[Neil H]

They are a pain and he wants to put more up its taking the p****

[timwetherell]

14 hours ago, rl said:

 

Taken 2200 UT approx 15 may 2020

8" Newtonian, 900mm focal length, 7 *60 sec lights, 4*60 sec darks, QHY183C camera, Orion skyglow imaging filter, centre crop. Galaxy is about 6 arcmin diameter. Supernova is the 2nd star up of the 4 in a vertical line just to the left of the galaxy

Nice shot, caught lots of detail in the spiral arms too!

[timwetherell]

On 15/05/2020 at 18:55, Mark at Beaufort said:

Tim I believe I saw it last night. @Johngave me a very useful diagram to identify the stars around the edge of M61. Yesterday the postman delivered a Baader 10mm Ortho which gave a better view of the galaxy than some of my alternative EPs. The 12" Dob was situated in a dark site at the end of my garden and I used a black out hood to improve the situation. So I think I saw it - hopefully, it will get brighter over the next few days/weeks.

Well done. yes, i think a 12" is probably the beast for the job. in my 7" I thought I saw something but wasn't able to navigate by those 14mag stars in a row by the supernova because I really couldn't see them. If it's gets to mag 12 or 13 then I'll definitely have another go visually

[bottletopburly]

What were the chances 

[rl]

What were the chances?

Sadly all too high..

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by rl