Supernovae Observed

Overview

While it is unlikely that casual observing will discover a supernova event, it is still fascinating to observe one discovered by others. It is even more interesting to do a series of observations to watch the slow fading of the supernova.

SN2024gy in NGC 4216

A supernova has occurred in NGC 4216: SN 2024gy (type Ia, mag. 16.3) which was discovered by Kōichi Itagaki on 4 January 2024. Two observations were done at HawkASTRO - one on 10 March 2024 (5 weeks after discovery: below left) and one on 27 May 2024 (14 weeks after discovery: below right) - where it can be seen that it has faded considerably from the first observation. The fading can be seen more clearly by using the constant brightness star near to it (left and down) as a reference.

Being able to observe this from the backyard is found to be nothing short of amazing - especially considering the relatively low cost of the Seestar S50.