[PeterM]

Now that we know this to be a very young Type II event (core collapse of a giant star) it is very likely to brighten, making it visible possibly in say 10inch scopes, maybe less. The galaxy is approx 101 Light years away and a very fine target for astroimagers. Robert (Madbadgalaxyman) maybe able to give us some indication of how bright this event could become.

There are very few Supernova each year that do become visual objects so here is a challenge to the eyeball amateurs out there.

Use the image in the above posts and spot the "supernew star" then ponder what happened to it 100 million years ago. The incredible power that was unleashed. As the light enters your eye think of what was happening here on Earth when that light left the doomed star and how far we have come. Think of what has happened to that star over the last 100 million years and how from its destruction, the new elements created in the inferno may now be in the throes of forming a new, very different star. A process that at least in our case led to an amateur astronomer on a planet circling a distant much smaller star, roll back the roof of his observatory one starry evening, point his telescope at a distant galaxy and be the first out of 6 billion to view an event that happened 100 million years ago.
I just love it.
PeterM.