Supernova Discovered in M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy

A new supernova (exploding star) has been discovered in the famous Whirlpool Galaxy, M51.

M51, The Whirlpool galaxy is a galaxy found in the constellation of Canes Venatici, very near the star Alkaid in the handle of the saucepan asterism of the big dipper. Easily found with binoculars or a small telescope.

The discovery was made on June 2nd by French astronomers and the supernova is reported to be around magnitude 14. More information (In French) can be found here or translated version here.

Image by BBC Sky at Night Presenter Pete Lawrence

The supernova will be quite tricky to spot visually and you may need a good sized dobsonian or similar telescope to spot it, but it will be a easy target for those interested in astro imaging.

The whirlpool galaxy was the first galaxy discovered with a spiral structure and is one of the most recognisable and famous objects in the sky.

VirtualAstro

Astronomer, writer and much much more. The best Astronomy, Space info on twitter. Making Stargazing easy, fun and enjoyable for all. Creator of Meteorwatch, meteorwatch.org and virtualastro.org

Recent Posts

There’s a Way to Make Ringworlds and Dyson Spheres Stable

The idea of Dyson Sphere’s has been around for decades. When Freeman Dyson explored the…

3 hours ago

Water Arrived in the Final Stages of Earth's Formation

Roughly 4.6 billion years ago, the Sun was born from the gas and dust of…

9 hours ago

An Amazing JWST Image of a Protostar

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been giving us a fabulous new view on…

13 hours ago

There Could Be a Supermassive Black Hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud Hurling Stars at the Milky Way

Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) were first theorized to exist in the late 1980s. In 2005, the…

14 hours ago

Uranus’ Moon Ariel has Deep Gashes, Could Reveal its Interior

We've only gotten one close-up view of Uranus and its moons, and it happened decades…

20 hours ago

A Recent Impact on Mars Shook the Planet to Its Mantle

New research suggests an impact recently rattled Mars deeper than thought. HiRISE images a recent…

21 hours ago