Supernova 2021J in NGC 4414

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just spotted that a bright supernova designated SN 2021 J in NGC 4414 is mag at 13.2, so well within reach of my Celestron C8. Or would be if it weren't for these interminable clouds. I bagged NGC 4414 in 2012, and it was fairly easy according to my notes.

More information here:

http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/supernova.html

It is apparently just south of the core. Fingers crossed for some clear skies after midnight

[John]

Thanks Michael. Definitely one to have a go for when some clear skies come along

Right on the Coma B / Canes V boundary so well placed after midnight.

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Thanks Michael. Definitely one to have a go for when some clear skies come along

Right on the Coma B / Canes V boundary so well placed after midnight.

 

Forecast for Friday and Saturday night is looking good here. Fingers crossed! Might also go on a bit of a comet hunt

 

[bomberbaz]

just had a look in stellarium, pretty low in the sky and at mag 13.4 going to need pretty dark skies.

My nearest dark sky at about sqm 19.5 - 20 is 12 miles away. With the current situation I don't know if it's wise to drive there.

[Mark at Beaufort]

2 hours ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Just spotted that a bright supernova designated SN 2021 J in NGC 4414 is mag at 13.2, so well within reach of my Celestron C8. Or would be if it weren't for these interminable clouds. I bagged NGC 4414 in 2012, and it was fairly easy according to my notes.

More information here:

http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/supernova.html

It is apparently just south of the core. Fingers crossed for some clear skies after midnight

Thanks Michael for the 'heads up'. Checking back in my log I viewed this galaxy in June 2011 and March 2016 so its a good galaxy to have a SN. Hopefully, it will clear the roof at a reasonable time.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

8 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

just had a look in stellarium, pretty low in the sky and at mag 13.4 going to need pretty dark skies.

My nearest dark sky at about sqm 19.5 - 20 is 12 miles away. With the current situation I don't know if it's wise to drive there.

As the SN is a point source, it should take quite some magnification, and sky background need not be a huge problem 

[John]

2 hours ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

As the SN is a point source, it should take quite some magnification, and sky background need not be a huge problem 

That's what I've found with SN. Find the galaxy then bang up the magnification to tease out the faintest points of light. At least with NGC4414 the host galaxy is likely to be visible. With the last SN that I observed, the host, NGC 514 was very hard to see at all even with my 12 inch scope. Averted vision can help with both the host galaxy and the SN itself of course.

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by John

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have just been playing with the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter, and made this chart for use with my RACI finder

And these for use in my SCT (with and without SDSS image)

 

[John]

Observation report here of this SN and others. Sounds a good prospect even without NVD:

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Might have a chance tomorrow night according to Clear Outside

[bomberbaz]

Do we have an indication of how long this is likely to last before fading. Weather here is awful for at least another week .

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

14 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

Do we have an indication of how long this is likely to last before fading. Weather here is awful for at least another week .

It has been caught while still rising. The latest photometry from the Zwicky Transient Facility gives a current brightness of around 12.8. It is a type 1a, so after reaching its peak it should last for a week or two at least, and then decline slowly

https://lasair.roe.ac.uk/object/ZTF21aaabvit/

[bish]

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately I need to travel to get to a dark sky, so it's a no go.  Back to lunar observing for me for a while!

[Mark at Beaufort]

Last night I set up my Skywatcher 150P to view the Moon's libration to show Mare Humboldtianum. As you can guess it was cloudy and remain that way for the whole evening.

However, I left the scope and eyepieces basically set up because I thought I might undertake some white light solar observing.

Anyway, I woke up fairly early and it was still astro dark with a perfect clear and transparent sky. Leo and Coma B were perfectly placed so I decided to try and view the SN in NGC 4414. The galaxy is fairly easy to find - draw a line from Cor Caroli and Al Dafirah and almost in the middle is two mag 6 stars very close together. Using my Instellarium atlas and the 60mm Altair finderscope it was easy to work out the patterns and location of NGC 4414.

Using a 13mm Ethos I could see the galaxy. Spending sometime studying the galaxy (smudge!!) especially using the 10mm Baader Classic Ortho, I could make out a star. I assume this was the SN - 2021J.

Hopefully, if the sky remains clear and I wake up I will have a go with the 12" Dob. 

[John]

Well done Mark

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It is now listed as mag 12.6. Still no clear skies in sight 

[John]

Clear sky forecast tonight so I may have a chance of this one

 

[ChrisMseeker]

Despite the cold (and possible rainshower while I was watching the footie) , followed by heavy dew turning to ice, I had a go at seeing SN 2021J. Finding NGC 4414 across from Cor Caroli (alpha Canum Venaticorum) was not too difficult. 4414 has a fairly bright core and I must confess that although I thought - maybe - with averted vision I could see the SN in question just fractionally  (relatively) to the south and west of the centre - I can't honestly say for sure.  So mixed bag really.  Still a good exercise and an opportunity for me to make a rare post about not very much  (and show off my knowledge of Latin plural genitives!😇)

Still waiting to nail my second SN for sure. 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well tried Chris . I know at 4am this morning the sky was crystal clear with excellent transparency. I used my Heritage 130P mainly because my 12" Dob got very wet (6.00 pm yesterday) because of a heavy downpour which was not expected.

Anyway I found NGC4414 again and I felt I got a glimmer towards the centre. Hopefully, I will try with the 12" to be certain.

[Littleguy80]

I believe I saw it with my 10” dob last night. Based on the images I was expecting something more like a double star with the core and SN. It seemed to me to be more a bright core with a single bright point source within it. The point source was roughly the same magnitude as the two stars circled which are 12.2 (top) and 12.4 (bottom). Transparency was good and I was observing at 240x (Pentax XW 5mm). Will be interested to hear how it appeared to others. 

[John]

Good to see others are getting this one.

I was going to try last night but the seeing went milky and my dob mirror (unusually) fogged up at about 1:30 am. I would have had another hour to wait and was struggling to see mag 9.5 galaxies under the conditions so I beat a retreat.

Hopefully I'll get another chance over the next few days.