Supernova in M65 SN 2013am

Spotted on March 21 that M. Sugano, of Kakogawa, Japan had spotted a new supernova in the galaxy M65 – the 65th entry in Messier’s catalog of 110 objects – amateur astronomers expected the star to brighten to magnitude 11 or 12, shiny enough to nab in even a pedestrian 4.5-inch reflector.

Only 7 days previous I had spent the first clear night since christmas. I though I would have a go at an old favourite the Leo triplet. From my image below M65 is the upper galaxy of the trio and of course no supernova. The next clear sky opportunity I get I will have another go and image my second supernova. Previous in M95 last year. http://www.malcsastro.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/M95

Within a week, a typical nearby supernova beams brightly enough to show in amateur telescopes. Not 2013am. It’s been 10 days and the star remains stubbornly faint. Professional astronomers examined the light of the supernova on March 22 and gleaned a couple interesting tidbits. First, the blast is tearing the it apart, sending debris into space at over 4,300 miles (7,000 km) per second. Second, the star’s light is “reddened” or dimmed by dust along our line of sight.