Ever seen a supernova? Give this one a go.

[mdstuart]

There is a supernova visible in a 10 inch scope at the moment.

It is in galaxy NGC 2655 which is above the plough so reasonably high up art the moment.

A few days ago it was mag 12.9 which is very dooable in a 10 inch scope.

The nova appears like a star just below the galaxy..

Supernovae 2011B in NGC 2655

I have yet to bag my first. So join me!

Mark

[John]

Thanks Mark - I'll have a go at this one, conditions allowing.

My 1st (and only) supernova observation was at the SGL4 star party. We used a 12" Skywatcher dob and a 13mm Ethos to pick out the tiny sparkle of the SN in another, obscure, Ursa Major galaxy. That was around mag 12 I believe and it was one of the observing highlights of the last few years for me

The challenge from my back yard will be to find the host galaxy

[lukebl]

Thanks for the heads up. Was definitely going to try for this one tonight, till I realised that it's only a few degrees from the celestial pole, in part of the sky permanently obscured from my obsy. Doh!

[Hypernova]

Thanks for the heads up.

I wonder if it would visible through my 8", I guess I would need a really dark and transparent night to have any chance.

[perrin6]

Thanks for the heads up.

I wonder if it would visible through my 8", I guess I would need a really dark and transparent night to have any chance.

When looking for it,use a high magnification as, for reasons I don't understand, maximum magnitude of star detectable with a scope is at high magnification, something to do with the background being darker, although why that doesn't make stars darker too, I don't know.

[Demonperformer]

Only ever seen one supernova ... 1987A ... was lucky enough to be in S hemisphere at the time.

[Moonshane]

When looking for it,use a high magnification as, for reasons I don't understand, maximum magnitude of star detectable with a scope is at high magnification, something to do with the background being darker, although why that doesn't make stars darker too, I don't know.

could it be that the stars are not magnified (as I understand it you can never magnify a star (being a point of light) as it's too far away) and therefore the light is not spread over a larger area so remains as bright as before?

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Mark I will give it a go. I missed viewing the one John mentioned even though I was at SGL4.

Mark

[Hypernova]

Well I was hoping to give it a go but the BBC is forecasting solid cloud and fog for the next 5 days at least

[mdstuart]

Well it cleared in the last hour here and I gave it a go. Surprisingly easy to find. Worked to it from M81/2 and on to NGC 2655 which is a relatively bright oval, easy to see in the 17mm with direct vision. Then following behind the galaxy was the SN. It was relatively easy to see, almost with direct vision. So mag 13 seems about right.

Regards

Mark

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well done Mark. It was clear and transparent last night in Hereford so I took out the 10" Dob. The unfortunate thing is that I forgot to look for the SN

Anyway hopefully we might get a clear spell at the end of the week and I will have a go then.

Mark

[Dai150PL]

Could anyone advise me on what I saw. A couple of months ago as I was coming out of my north facing back door as it was just turning dark, with no visible stars yet, what appeared to be a star just sort of switched on then flashed a bright flash and then vanished. I was on the way out to garden to set up for the evening, searched with the telescope but found nothing. Sorry unable to give a date or a accurate set of coordinates. It was north west and about three flat hands above the horizon. Due to the position and height I was able to rule out the mountain or anything on it as a possible cause, to high. When it switched on it was brighter than almost any other visible stars and the flash was extremely short and bright. To me it was like a two stage light switch, on, full power and off all in a second or so, fast.

Completely forgotten about it until I read this thread.

Not Known for seeing things, and was not a satellite.

Thanks

David

[WayBig]

Davis - sounds like an iridium flare (the sun reflectiing off one of the iridium satellites) they behave in the manner that you've described. You can get predictions for where and when they will appear off the heavens-above website

[John]

Thanks Mark I will give it a go. I missed viewing the one John mentioned even though I was at SGL4.

Mark

I can recall that the one we saw at SGL5 was around mag 12.5. It was quite a challenge though with a 12" and my 13mm Ethos under the good skies at Lucksall. It sounds like this one may be a little easier to see perhaps ?.

I'd really like to rack up my 2nd SN so I'll be hoping for clear skies over the next few days to give it a go.

[Tim]

oooh, thanks for the heads up, I have just switched imaging scope to my C9.25, so I will try and get a piccy too

[Dai150PL]

Thanks WayBig, now got something to look up this afternoon.

[eriwig]

Doubt I'll be able to see it with my wee scope but I'll have fun trying

[shepsboss]

Just a thought....if you do manage to see it NOW....how long ago did it take place? Perhaps it's food for thought!

[mdstuart]

Update from my observation after checking on Carte Du Ciel!

I made a humble amateur visual estimate of brightness against nearby stars for you.

The SN was brighter than 3uc-337 022 143 which is listed as 13.3 and just fainter than 3UC-337-022191 which is listed as 12.6. This accords well with the current figure on the official web sites.

Go for it NGC 2655 is only a mag 10 galaxy. Its very obvious in mag 4.5 skies with a 10 inch scope. I think a 6 inch would pick up the galaxy.

The SN is mag 13 so not too challenging. I spotted a mag 14.4 star with averted vision just under NGC 2655 whilst noting the stars that I could pick out.

AMAZING!!! JUST ANOTHER WOW MOMENT for me...

Mark

[lukebl]

I'm a bit gutted that I can't see this one from my obsy position, but I did notice on Calsky that there's another bright supernova in Leo which might be worth a go. It's 2010jl and has been up to mag 12.9, and is currently about 13.7. Might have a go at imaging that one the next clear night. Details here.

[Demonperformer]

Thanks for the link, Luke.

[Mark at Beaufort]

It went clear last night about 9pm so was able to try and observe this SN. It was easy to locate from M81/82 and there it was NGC2655 with its SN. I used my 8mm Ethos on the 10" and I could detect the 3 stars in a row close to HIP44060 (mag 7.3) which includes USNO J0856546 + 780601 which has a mag of 14.2.

I estimate the SN at mag12.

Thanks Mark for the initial notice so I have now seen my first SN with direct viewing.

Mark

[JAO]

If only the cloud would clear:mad:

[Moonshane]

I tried myself but could not find the galaxy! my problem is that the stars from Polaris / Ursa minor are just about half visible - sometimes yes sometimes no. From Mark's comments I was maybe starting from the wrong spot.

that said, the LP is worst where UMa is although I did see M97 and NGC2841 last night for the first time.

[perrin6]

I tried myself but could not find the galaxy! my problem is that the stars from Polaris / Ursa minor are just about half visible - sometimes yes sometimes no. From Mark's comments I was maybe starting from the wrong spot.

that said, the LP is worst where UMa is although I did see M97 and NGC2841 last night for the first time.

Oh! - the problems with telrad/RDF etc (I think that's what you use isn't it) - no prob with my handy-dandy homemade 8 X 40 finder- 7 degree field and 8th mag stars easily visible ! (If only the clouds would buzz off for a few mins:icon_confused:)