M101 SuperNova Gif

[tomato]

Should this be in the Special Events section? If so apologies and Mods please relocate.

Here is a two frame GIF of M101 from last night and March 2020. It was going to be the whole galaxy  and in colour, but my framing in 2020 is 23 degrees out from last night and then somehow I lost the red channel subs due to being tucked up in bed at 2 a.m. instead of being out there minding the kit.

It is strange how these supernovae feel like urgent current events which from our vantage point I suppose they are, when in reality this all happened some 24 million years ago when the Apes separated from monkeys on the our evolutionary timeline...

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Excellent stuff! I hope I will get a chance to spot this in the coming nights.

[Mr Spock]

Fabulous! I'm going to see if I can grab a snap of it tonight (my images are snaps 😜 )

[AstroMuni]

Nice one @tomato 👍.

Here is my attempt - a quick 120s x 30, captured on Saturday night. It must have been a massive SN for it to be seen at similar brightness as the foreground stars from our galaxy.

 

[tomato]

Yes, l have imaged 3 SNs since returning to AP nine years ago but this one is by far the most prominent. It helps being in a galaxy that is (relatively) not very distant.

I wasn’t planning to image M101 this season but the Cosmos had other ideas.

[tomato]

Has anybody noticed the much fainter ‘star’ lower down the spiral arm that is present in the 2020 frame but is absent in the SN frame?

I need to check some other images…

PS it is in the other frame it is just my casual stretching routine making it brighter in the first one…

Edited May 22, 2023 by tomato
Ps added

[Stu]

Excellent images. I’ll post a link to this in the heads up section.

Anyone know the current brightness? Is it within reach of an 8” dob under Bortle 4 skies for instance? Might just have a go at it.

[tomato]

Thanks, according to S&T it was at mag 11.1 last night and still getting brighter, now visible  in a 4.5” scope, so I would definitely give it a go.

[Paul M]

I last imaged M101 in March. I left the rig Taking 30 sec subs all night and went to bed.

Just imagine if someone had done that during to initial brightening phase of this eventvand caught a real time animation of the emergence of a SN?

Maybe someone did.

[Sunshine]

Very fascinating and some great work!

[WolfieGlos]

Great capture!

[bomberbaz]

Should get this well with the 14" dob and I am also going to have a go at getting its spectra with the portable imaging rig.  These are exciting times. 

[The Lazy Astronomer]

I've managed to get out this evening too and have a sequence running as l type. My goodness me, it is bright!

[Cosmic Geoff]

Here is my shot of the supernova, taken on 22 May at around 22:00 UT.  !02mm f5 achro, ASI224MC, stacked 10x 20sec exposure.

Sky conditions were rubbish - I could barely see  Castor & Pollux with the naked eye. The supernova is the brightest object at lower centre.

I also have a poor quality pre-discovery picture of M101 taken last year where the supernova is predictably absent.