SN in M95

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: lost my heads up here ? anyway a new Super nova , spotted in M95 , last time I posted this , it was mag. 12.9 . last seen under mag .12. Around 5 hours ago I put a SV Alert .. on this . ..:confused2:.
Brian

[PeterM]

The link below gives details for SN 2012aw discovered on March 16th by the Italian Supernova Search. Apparently rising rapidly in brightness.

http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/
PeterM.

[Greg Bock]

HI All,
for anyone who would like to see a bright supernova visually, try the latest bright one that was found on March 16th in M95 (NGC3351) which is in Leo, and is currently about 1 degree south-east of Mars.

This is brightening very quickly, and so is likely to be brighter over the next few days before it levels off. Its a type IIP, which means it's a single huge explosion, and the 'P' means it will have a plateau phase that will maintain it's unusual brightness for months to come.

I measured the brightness of new SN to be about magnitude 13.3, so it should be visible in telescopes with mirrors of 8" or more under dark skies.

Good luck,

[PeterM]

Here's the CBET on this discovery.
http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/003000/CBET003054.txt

[astroron]

Thanks Brian,Peter and Greg:thanx:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[barx1963]

Nearly had a look at M95 on Monday night. :sadeyes:
Didn't in the end as I was busy chasing other fuzzies. Oh well might get it at SV on the weekend.

Malcolm

[andyc]

Will definitely be worth a look, thanks!

Also worth noting is another bright supernova in NGC4790 in Virgo (about 4 deg from Sombrero Galaxy). SN2012au is at mag 13.3 (possibly still on the way up?), but very close to the host galaxy's nucleus. Perhaps big telescopes can separate the two?

Same link as above: http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/

I've yet to try and see either (and probably unlikely from the Melbourne suburbs with an 8"), but if either brightens a bit they'll be decent targets! :D

[Jen]

:thumbsup: thanks guys this could be a good challenge for us at Snake Valley Camp on the weekend :D

[Greg Bock]

Jen
your 12" should show it easily, good luck

[Jen]

:eyepop: really how cool thanks :D

[barx1963]

Got it!

It is sitting a fair way from the core of the galaxy, only vis with AV under my light polluted skies in the 12" but at 150x it is a nice little point that is quite obvious.
Low power won't work with this, at 88x it was on the edge of visibility.

I think thre is a bit of high moisture/clouds here that is dimming the view as the galaxy is really dim.

Malcolm

[barx1963]

As I suspected transparency is a bit dodgy down here tonight (now there's a surprise!!) cruised over to the Triplet and NGC 3628 was invisible with no structure apparent in M65 and M66. Also looked for M104 and nowhere near as bright as on Monday night.

If we get a clear night at SV the SN will be nice and bright.

Malcolm

[Greg Bock]

It seems that here in SE Qld, or anywhere in Qld, we don't have stars anymore, just clouds and rain, or just clouds...

My image of the SN in M95 above is only 3 x 30 second images combined that were captured in a 2 minute gap between clouds drifting through, and I had to close the roof after the last 30 second subframe was finished due to rain on the roof again...

[Rob_K]

Managed a rare evening shoot tonight and very pleased to get it! Hopefully I'll get to eyeball it at Snake Valley this weekend, if some charitable person will grant me a view! ;) :lol:

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/SN2012aw22Mar2012text.jpg

Cheers -

[barx1963]

Rob, you are a legend!

[JB80]

I haven't even been able to make out M95 as of yet but my main observing position has lights shining in my face so I can't really get dark adapted.

[mozzie]

nicely seen at 102x quiet some distance from core of m95 seeing a little hazy will crank up mag.. to see if more of m95 is visable... thanks for info

[mozzie]

209x was some more structure of m95 but nothing seen out to s/n...cranked up to 530x with bluryness of m95 core but had that and s/n on edge of eyepiece in focus nice sight to see........

[Terry B]

The progenitor star has probably been identified on deep old hubble images. See here http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=3991

[astroron]

We have a dedicated forum for Observing Reports, It would be appreciated if observers of the Supernova would post their observations there.
We have two threads going on this :shrug:
Cheers :thumbsup:

PS Brian you put your Supernova Alert on the observational and visual Astronomy.

[brian nordstrom]

:) I hear you Ron , but aint a supernova Visual astronomy ? .
Sorry , but its now being seen now in small telescopes , world wide .
Brian.

[astroron]

Brian this thread is not visual astronomy it is Celestial and astronomical events, and people are posting their observing reports on this thread instead of the Observing reports page .
Your Alert is on the observing thread page .
You posted this

Quote

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/../vbiis/images/smilies/shrugging.gif lost my heads up here ? anyway a new Super nova , spotted in M95 , last time I posted this , it was mag. 12.9 . last seen under mag .12. Around 5 hours ago I put a SV Alert .. on this . ..http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/../vbiis/images/smilies/confused2.gif.
Brian

Again your alert is on the observing page so you didn't loose it you just posted it somewhere else.
It pays to look around or go to your profile and see what posts you have started and it will tell you where you posted it :rolleyes:
If you do manage to see the Supernova, (one word by the way) Could you please post it on the observation page Not this thread.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Gem]

lol
I went to image M95 tonight not knowing about the SN. I couldn't find an adequate guide star, and so did a couple of 10 second exposures to just check it was there... then moved on. Regret it now! :(

[skysurfer]

This week I saw it with my 25cm Dob, I checked with Skysafari on which the star south of the galaxy was missing.

I took a picture as well: 15 frames each 30 sec iso 3200 with Televue Genesis prime focus with Canon 7d. The green circle shows where the SN is. Mars is top right (north up).


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

[Suzy]

There seems to be some confusion where to post reports- I've just done a report in the obs forum but will copy and paste it here to keep in line with other reports here. :shrug:


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. 111739


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?

[Shark Bait]

Great report Suzy. Your enthusiasm is contagious. I will get outside and hunt down this SN.

[Suzy]

Thanks Stu. ;)

Yes yes go outside, it's not to be missed! :party:

I look forward to your report. :D

[brian nordstrom]

:) Alright Suzy !! . Good on you , aint an astronomical first something to be proud of ? especially a Super Nova :eyepop: , the first of many now ?
Brian.

[andyc]

SN was visible with surprising clarity with an 8" from my backyard in suburban Melbourne. It's the first supernova I've ever observed too, having just missed out on the northern ones last year (summer twilight at 56N is bright!) before moving south.

Equipment was an 8" dob, sky conditions were respectable for the 'burbs. The galaxy M95 was clear if quite faint at 100x, and less distinct than either M96 or M105 and it's companion. The SN was in and out on the edge of visibility, but in good spells was a clear little speck in the right place in relation to two nearby stars and the galaxy's core. Using a chart generated from AAVSO, I'd say it was in the mag 12.5-12.8 range, just a little fainter than two other nearby 12.4/12.5 field stars.

Quite amazing to think how cataclysmic that little speck actually is, go have a look!:thumbsup:

[Zubenel]

Great report Suzy , :)
I had the pleasure of seeing this one through Ron's on Saturday night.:eyepop:Very obvious down to 51 Times with the 35mm pan. I show my eldest lad from the front yard through the 10" F5 tonight. Averted vision and used the 12mm Type4 Nag gave the best view. The light pollution does a job on the seen compared to Ron's .Who would have thought you could see an SN from the Suburban Fringe !!:):) Cheers Zub

[brian nordstrom]

:) If its fine tomorrow night I might go south for 30 -40km and set up my 127mm triplet and have a go from some really dark NT skies , heres hoping ?? :question:.
Brian.

[Giorgio]

Thanks to Suzy, who let me know about this sn, I got last night the opportunity to look for it.

Last night the sky here in Toowoomba was really good (a real rarety lately...:sadeyes: ) and following her precise instructions I found quickly m95 (using my 12" Lightbridge dob).

However it was very faint and I could spot it only with my 2 longer focal EPs (Meade 26mm and GSO SV 50mm).
When I tried to get closer with the other EPs (Skywatcher 13mm, and the just arrived 7mm Nagler :eyepop: ), it wasn't there anymore...:shrug:

I guess light pollution up here should be less an issue than in Brisbane, but sadly to observe at Mars I have to set the scope in direct line of sight of a bright street light about 30mt away :(
Also I thought that maybe the sky above me actually wasn't as clean as it looked to me. But I'm not able yet to properly assess its real observing conditions, so this is just a long shot trying to explain what was not right. Moreover, I washed both the primary and secondary just 2 days ago. Although they are not new and has several bad spots (some fungus and nasty dirt hard bits), they are very little and while a recoating would surely be nice, in my understanding I can live without it for the time being. I definetly exclude collimation problems, as I did it one each time I moved the dob around the backyard (it sits on a 4 wheels trolley).

Hope to be able bringing the dob in a real dark sky location soon so finally being able to enjoy a glimpse to this new jewel (and of course many other beauties up there).

However, the night wasn't wasted. The Nagler delivered some of the best views I ever had to the usual beauty up there with Omega Centaury and Saturn views by far the best ones
:eyepop::eyepop::eyepop:

Cheers

[brian nordstrom]

;) Good to hear Georgio , nothing like a good night after weeks ( months ) of cloudy nights , yea mate those Naglers are special alright , glad you got one now :thumbsup:.
Brian.

[Mariner]

Wow, just saw this post and will be home from sea in a few days to have a look for myself - can't wait. Must break out the 12" dob to get this one I think.

Will it still be good to look at towards the end of the week???

Hope so.

[Greg Bock]

Hi guys

for a comprehensive list of magnitudes for the SN, go to the M95 sub-page here at
http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2012/sn2012aw.html.

You'll see that as of the 13th April, its still around Magnitude 13.3 V. So, it will be bright enough visually for most people with at least an 8" to 10" scope under dark skies.

If the clouds let me, i'll take another image this week and leave it here for comparison with my last image taken on 21 March.

[andyc]

I saw the SN again a few nights ago from Melbourne (8" Dob), teetering on the edge of visibility and definitely a bit fainter than a few weeks ago, even when the nearby galaxies (M95, M96, M105, NGC3384) were comparably visible. Should be easy from a dark sky with and 8", and still straightforward with larger apertures in urban skies. 13.3 is probably reasonable, maybe a bit faint as a magnitude estimate (maybe more like 13?), but I didn't do a proper estimate!