- Look out for more than fireworks this summer. A massive star in the arm of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) has exploded — aka gone supernova — and its fiery death throes, Astronomy reports, are expected to be visible for months, even from amateur backyard telescopes.
- The supernova, now designated as SN 2023ixf, was first seen by supernova hunter Koichi Itagaki of Japan on May 19th. Star watchers at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California confirmed the cosmic explosion by finding images of the supernova taken automatically two days before Itagaki discovered it, according to NASA.
- “For reasons we don’t completely understand, massive stars seem to convulse at the end of their lives, shedding their outer layers into space,” tweeted Andy Howell, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and an astronomer at Las Cumbres Observatory.
- “It is just too hard to catch a star in the act because most are so far away, or we don’t find the supernova early enough. This supernova will teach us a lot.”
Trending
New Supernova In Sky May Shine For Months
IN SPACE - JULY 12: In this handout photo provided by NASA, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope reveals Stephans Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, in a new light on July 12, 2022 in space. This enormous mosaic is Webb's largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the Moons diameter. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. The information from Webb provides new insights into how galactic interactions may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe. (Photo by NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI via Getty Images)
