A Nearby Supernova Is Visible This Weekend With Even A Small Telescope

If you don't, but you know someone who does, ask them if you may look around. You don't get to see a massive star erupt before your eyes and glow brightly like a billion Suns very frequently. Even a tiny telescope will detect the new supernova under dark skies today, in contrast to when it originally made news and required a medium-sized home telescope to observe.

A probable supernova (designated SN 2023ixf) in the Pinwheel Galaxy, better known as Messier 101, was reported by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki late last week. This report was validated by scientists using the 2-meter Liverpool Telescope. Even if you've never heard of the Pinwheel, chances are you've seen pictures of it. It has long been a favored target for astrophotographers due to its almost flawless spiral structure, face-on orientation to Earth, and relative proximity (21 million light-years).

Results won't be available for several months or perhaps years, but data is already pouring in as a result of the Hubble and Swift satellite observatories forgoing their scheduled observations in favor of SN 2023ixf. The scientists who determined the object was a supernova concluded their study by stating, "Additional follow-up is encouraged." Since the Pinwheel never sets from a large portion of the Northern Hemisphere, there has never been a shortage of amateur and professional takers.

One person who has already heeded the call is astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy, famed for his incredibly detailed photographs produced by fusing many photos. Funny enough, McCarthy views this as a subpar representation of the Pinwheel, with the supernova clearly visible in the upper arm. Every single individual star in the picture, according to McCarthy, comes from our galaxy; the stars in the Pinwheel are star clusters that are so closely packed together that they are impossible to distinguish.

When the word of the discovery spread, the first verified sightings had moved from 16th magnitude to 14th magnitude (lower magnitudes indicate brightness). That is just barely within the dark-sky viewing range of a medium-sized home telescope. Over the past several days, the brightness has leveled out at a magnitude of roughly 11, which is within the capability of entry-level telescopes. However, it doesn't appear as though it will get to the point where binoculars can see it (about 9th magnitude).

The Pinwheel has hosted five supernovae since 1900, including with one that was very stunning. Since there hasn't been a verified supernova in the Milky Way for 400 years, its neighbor is truly outdoing us. Despite having 2–10 times more stars than our galaxy, the Pinwheel is far more active in star formation, presumably as a result of strong gravitational interactions with its smaller neighbor galaxies.

One of these earlier occurrences, SN 2011fe, was one of the century's four closest supernovas. Both the supernovas SN 2014J and 2011fe were Type Ia (white dwarfs). SN 2023ixf is the nearest example of a verified Type II supernova since 2004, and since 2011fe became the benchmark for measuring more distant Type Ias. If you don't have access to a telescope or are unable to escape city lights, you can see the telescope online through the Virtual Telescope Project starting at 10:30 UT on May 26 (weather permitting).