Starship Asterisk*

NGC 613 in Dust, Stars, and a Supernova

Explanation: Where did that spot come from? Amateur astronomer Victor Buso was testing out a new camera on his telescope in 2016 when he noticed a curious spot of light appear -- and remain. After reporting this unusual observation, this spot was determined to be light from a supernova just as it was becoming visible -- in an earlier stage than had ever been photographed optically before. The discovery before and after images, taken about an hour apart, are shown in the inset of a more detailed image of the same spiral galaxy, NGC 613, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Follow-up observations show that SN 2016gkg was likely the explosion of a supergiant star, and Buso likely captured the stage where the outgoing detonation wave from the stellar core broke through the star's surface. Since astronomers have spent years monitoring galaxies for supernovas without seeing such a "break out" event, the odds of Buso capturing this have been compared to winning a lottery.

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Fascinating!

Thanks to Arne for being the first here at Starship Asterisk to make a post about this rare supernova!

Ann

It would have been nice to see the images presented in a similar aspect.

I'm confused. Is the supernova visible in the main image?

pmtanx wrote:I'm confused. Is the supernova visible in the main image?

No. The supernova was located "at the end" of one of the arms. The Hubble image only shows the inner parts of NGC 613.

Ann

I'm really dissapointed about today's APOD. Instead of publishing the animation of the supernova available from the author, I see a Hubble image with a blurry corner, and an inset of the REAL discovery. I cant understand the criteria on today's apod. Really dissapointed.

Regards

PS: Seems that Robert Gendler made the discovery. Too bad.

rfcontreras wrote:I'm really dissapointed about today's APOD. Instead of publishing the animation of the supernova available from the author, I see a Hubble image with a blurry corner, and an inset of the REAL discovery. I cant understand the criteria on today's apod. Really dissapointed.

Regards

PS: Seems that Robert Gendler made the discovery. Too bad.

I see no reason to be sad if Robert Gender discovers a supernova. However, he didn't discover this one. The discovery was made by Victor Buso, an amateur astronomer.

Ann

So, can the animation from the author be published in a link? May we see larger/original images of the supernova?

Here's the animation

http://www.espacioprofundo.com.ar/topic ... ent-267167

Feel free to use it, I've just talked with Victor and it's ok to use it.

Regards