A star exploded as a supernova in a nearby galaxy

A star exploded as a supernova at the heart of the Big Dipper. It was the supernova hunter Koichi Itagaki who discovered it this Thursday, May 19, 2023. The object was baptized SN 2023ixf. And it then appeared with a magnitude of the order of 14.9. A magnitude that has continued to decline since and for several days. Understand that the luminosity of the supernova continuously increased.

According to astronomers, SN 2023ixf corresponds to a type II supernova. It would be the result of the explosion of a supergiant star at the end of its life. A star about 15 times the mass of our Sun, researchers estimate, and evolving so far in one of the most photographed galaxies: M101, the Moulinet galaxy located almost 21 million light years from the Earth (a neighbor on the scale of the Universe).

The latest observations suggest that the peak brightness of this newly appeared supernova has been reached. Around a magnitude of 11. It therefore remains invisible to the naked eye. But it can quite well be observed using an amateur instrument.