SN Alert!!!

[brian nordstrom]

Supernova in M95 , mag 13.9 and rising .. :).
Brian.

[astroron]

Thanks Hans :thanx:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:eyepop: Been spotted in a 60mm scope , its getting brighter ?
Brian.

[astroron]

Just observed the Supernova 2012wa :)
It is quite bright at about Mag 12.8-9
Should be visible in scopes from about 8"
Cheers :thumbsup:

[Ed D]

It is getting brighter and easier to see - observed it in my 6" Dob last night from dark sky site. I find it mind-boggling how large this explosion is, and that it happened roughly 38 million years ago.

Ed D

[Suzy]

I observed the the sn in M95 last night and what a huge thrill it was! This is the first supernova that I've seen through my telescope.

Here is my report:


25/3/12 10pm

Equipment: 10" dob. EP: Pentax XW10mm using 140X mag.
Location: Light polluted backyard :P
Guide: Starry Night Pro software and this helpful map here.111730


The galaxy was quite easy to find, being only one deg away from Mars.

The XW is a 70 deg ep, so I put Mars just to the outside of the middle left edge just outside the fov and sweeped slowly right and despite not having dark adapted my eyes, added to the fact that just at that time, hubby was fixing the garage door so I had the bright light inside garage glaring straight at me only 10 feet away :rolleyes:, I was able to nab this galaxy quite easily. No spiral arms visible- it was all core (quite large too), surrounded by fuzz. Couldn't find the SN at that stage.. looking... looking... nothing. And all of a sudden after about 10 minutes there it was. Clearly, my eyes had to dark adapt :rolleyes: and what a difference that made. It was the difference between it being there and not! I didn't need to use averted vision- was quite obvious.
If I didn't know any better about this sn being there, I would have mistaken the sn for another galaxy. But I had every star within the field accounted for to know and confirm this was indeed a galaxy and sn. To me, both looked like elliptical galaxies because of the lack of spiral structure and showing just a diffuse glow.

I was surprised to see the sn so far away from the core. It made me quite aware, despite this being some 38 million light years away and so far away and small to my eye- just how large the galaxy actually is as it shows where the sn sits on the end of it.
The SN sat above the galaxy in the eyepiece and is smaller than the core of the galaxy, though not by much I thought. For the first time (despite seen plenty of sn pics), I became truly aware when looking through my own telescope of just how gigantic a supernova is compared to the core of its residing galaxy. It was an exhilarating experience eyeballing it myself.

After observing it for a good solid half hour, transparency then killed it. Both completely disappeared out of view- just leaving the stars behind in the field. Then they came back and then they disappeared. The first to disappear was the sn.

Two tiny groups of triangular shaped asterisms grabbed my attention- they looked identical in size and shape. Three large stars point in an arrow to the sn as if it was announcing "here it is" :lol:. To the right of sn, one bright star sits on the same line of sight as galaxy.

I think perhaps a good clear night is needed to view this. I'd perhaps recommend trying for it and if you don't see it, observe something else and keep coming back to it until you see it. Just don't give up if you don't see it the first time. Trust me, when you see it, it'll be worth the effort. But above all- it is important that you have your eyes dark adapted as mentioned before.

I'm certain an 8" will grab this from a light polluted backyard, tho I think it could be on the limits, but I feel certain you'll grab something. I'd be interested to hear some reports?

[Greg Bock]

great observation report Suzy, thanks..
You makes a couple of very goods points..do take the time to dark adapt, and don't give up.

[astrospotter]

Here is my observation from last Thursday in a 12" dob and it has been raining before that and ever since ... glad I got out once anyway.

M95 supernova at 10pm PDT tonight (from mid California, USA), 3-22-2012, was quite obvious in a 12" f/5 dob just south of the core of M95 by around 2.4' or almost the same spacing and the mag 9.9 and mag 11.7 stars just west of M95 by 1/3fov [about 7']. Viewed at 218x with 7mmNagler mostly.

Looking around for a mag estimate star I decided that just east of the
mag 11 star that is 1/2fov [11'] NW of the core of M95 [GSC 849:167]
was a much dimmer star going by GSC849:195 that was very close in mag to the supernova where mag was judged using a 5mm Nagler (300x). That puts the supernova near mag 13.3 at 10pm PDT.

The night did not support 300x but it was easier to judge the mag with the 300x. I judged the mag 12.6 star 1/2 fov WNW of M95 to be a touch brighter [GSC 849:119]. The sky was not very dark [did not have SQM meter] but NELM was just a bit better than 5.4 from this rather light sight close to home with that area near city sky glow. With the same 7mm eyepiece used for most of the M95 observation my galaxy limiting mag I determined using Ngc4458 which is around a mag 12 galaxy in Markarian chain (a favorite area)but not stellar in my view tonight.

[astroron]

Supernova 2012wa in M95 is still plainly seen.
I observed it first in a 21mm plossl 90xmag and was plainly seen even in twilight.
A second observation with a 9mm Nagler 2oox mag showed it at about 12.5xmag.
deffineitly observable in an 8"scope with a reasonable sky.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[skysurfer]

Two weeks ago I saw it as well on March 21 I took a photo. It was rather close to Mars which is visible top right of the photo.

http://www.northsouthsky.com/skypics4/large/sn2012aw-20120321.jpg

A few days later I saw it even (barely) with my Televue Genesis @ 83x while my backyard is rather light polluted. So it can be seen in a 4" scope.

[allan gould]

I managed to get an image of the SN and then realised that I had taken an image just before the appearance of the supernova.
A composite is attached

[brian nordstrom]

:) Awsome Allan , those two photos have just showen a couple of novice astronomer friends of mine a real view into how bright a supernover really is and that the galaxy M95 is as big as our Milky Way .
Only 1/2 an hour ago I was showing them the star Eta Carinae thru my 90mm APO and explaining this star is a supernova candidate , and if it went SN we would see it in daylight from here on Earth and be able to read a newspaper at night under its light ( for a few days , of course ), it would be that bright :eyepop: , and your photos brought this home for them . Thank you , from them and me .:thumbsup:.
Brian.

[Greg Bock]

Allan can you provide the date of the image that you took of M95 without the supernova please? The reason? Knowing the date of the explosion is important, and any images taken just before it appeared can help pin the date of explosion down. (this may already be known by now of course, but it may be useful to get your image date in case it helps in some way)