Supernova in Pinwheel Galaxy (M101)!

[weixing]

Hi,

yeah..this seems like a once in a life time event.
Hope to be able to catch it on rlow's 15-incher at the Science Centre this Friday Lets hope he is there...

I doubt you can see it in Science Centre... I think the north is basically block by building and the M101 is not that high when night fall.

Have a nice day.

[kaomoo]

yeah, based on my simulation, it's very low at NWN direction by the time sun sets. only way to really avoid light pollution is to head to lim chu kang area?

[starfinder]

yeah, based on my simulation, it's very low at NWN direction by the time sun sets. only way to really avoid light pollution is to head to lim chu kang area?

It seems that supernova SN 2011fe is now at around mag 11.7 (as of this morning Singapore time); see the following light curve:
http://www.aavso.org/lcg/plot?auid=000- ... an=&vmean=


Hmmm... I suppose the very end of Lim Chu Kang Road facing the sea might be one spot, but am not sure if there is any open area to set-up the scope.
Haven't been there for a few years.

I was at Changi Beach Park for star-gazing a few weeks back, specifically the beach area where Carpark no. 1 is (that carpark is at the western end of Nicoll Drive).
The beach there has a clear unobstructed view out to sea in the direction of the NW, NNW, N, NE and on to due East.
In terms of local lighting, the beach area to the west or ‘left’ of Carpark no. 1 was somewhat darker than the other areas.

Here is a screen capture of the night sky as seen from Singapore at 8pm this Sat 3rd Sept 2011.
M101 would then be setting in the NNW at 20.5 degrees above the horizon:




I had some earlier plans to go to Changi beach tomrow evening, but with this weather that is very likely out of the question. Hence the screen capture
has been set for this Sat. I think this “muck” of never-ending cloud that's been hanging in the sky since mid last week will last at least a few
more days (see below). When was the last time I saw the Sun, I wonder, never mind the stars? It must be the supernova causing it.
There is so much cloud even the individual clouds can’t be seen; it’s more like fog in the sky.
It reminds me of British weather... This can't be the tropics!

[starfinder]

Here is a useful article on how to tell which object in an eyepiece view of the galaxy M101 is the supernova. It contains the author's recent sketch of it:
http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2011/08/ ... el-galaxy/


And here is a press release from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii (which I've been to, incidentally... heee) explaining why astronomers are so excited about this "once in a life-time" Type Ia supernova.
http://keckobservatory.org/news/secrets_of_supernova/

See also:
"... we have to go all the way back to 1962 and the galaxy NGC 1313 for the last supernova outside the Milky Way system that was as bright as 2011fe. Certainly that makes this event very special."
http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2011/08/ ... ord-books/


Which reminds me, I vaguely recall watching the news in 1987 when I was young, about the supernova of that year (in the LMC). There was a lot of fuss/excitement about it. And that was a year after I saw Halley's Comet from my bedroom in Singapore through my brother's scope (I think it was a 60mm refractor) - I recall it was just a white/grey cottonwool-like blob with no tail, a bit of a let-down for all the never ending news about it then. Still, I'm glad I managed to see it.


Anyway, back to the present, to SN 2011fe... it seems to have broken through into the mag 10+ range, its now at around mag 10.7:
http://www.aavso.org/ql/results?auid=00 ... 5715.86279


Hope tonight would be cloud free at last!

[starfinder]

I think I have just managed to photograph the supernova!

And now still in the process.

If the star I've been looking at in the photo is indeed the supernova, then based on a direct comparison with nearby stars in the same image, I estimate it to be at around mag 10.5.

Will need to confirm.... One large cloud now obscuring my view.

[Airconvent]

Go for it Gavin!

[starfinder]

Ok, Rich. I think I can confirm that I did indeed manage to image the supernova. But I'm not totally sure.

Here is an image which I took just now from my room. A single shot of 20 seconds at ISO 1600 with my LX-90.

There is no galaxy to be seen at all in the image. I think the galaxy M101 is quite diffuse, and given our heavy light-pollution in Singapore,
it's no surprise that the galaxy itself can't be seen. Also, there was high-level haze in the sky.
[Add: Also, at that time, M101 was 22 degrees above the horizon in the NNW and setting.]

It took me a long time searching images of the supernova to find one where I could recognise the pattern of other stars in my image.
I then rotated that and resized it till it matched my captured image.
Below is that image from the web (it's similar to others), but note that the supernova was much dimmer then.
It is now reported at below mag 11 already.
And it seems from this article that the supernova is the brightest object within the immediate area of the galaxy:
http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2011/08/ ... el-galaxy/


So here it is, my image (with annotated notes taken from The Sky6 software on nearby stars).

I would say that based on a direct comparison of the other stars, the supernova is at around mag 10.7.

I tried viewing it in the eyepiece, but it was too hazy this evening, so I could not make out the supernova for certain in the eyepiece.
Will try again in the next few days.

[Gary]

Hi Gavin. Thanks for the useful info. I blew up your original SN photo, did some photoshop enhancement and tried to co-relate it to a galaxy image.

The following is the result. It is just pure speculation on my part. So it can be totally wrong.

If my speculation is correct, then the bright dot in the green cross hair in your original photo may not be the supernova. In any case, congratulations on your successful imaging of that area under Singapore skies.


You may want to stand further away from your monitor to see the fuzzy dots better. Adjusting your monitor calibration may also help.

[Clifford60]

Hi Gary, If you see the link for the supernova, the position you guess is wrong.

http://www.inquisitr.com/136868/superno ... -25-years/

If you based on the pinwheel picture where you place the different arrows, it should be on the right of the lowest arrowed star just before the 2 brighter stars, about 2x the distance from the left of the picture to the lowest arrowed star.

[Gary]

Hi Clifford. My point is that if my co-relation is correct, then gavin was wrong about the supernova in the green crosshair in his photo. The green crosshair in my photo is deliberately matched to the same star in gavin's. Not where I think the supernova should be.