These images from Aug. 22-24, 2011, show Type Ia supernova PTF 11kly, the youngest ever detected. (Palomar Observatory / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Supernova Visible this Week
Updated: Wednesday, 07 Sep 2011, 11:52 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 07 Sep 2011, 11:51 AM EDT
(EndPlay Staff Reports) - Scientists have discovered what may be the closest supernova to Earth in the past 25 years and you can see it this week.
A team of astronomers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley discovered the violently exploding white dwarf star in the Pinwheel Galaxy, about 21 million light-years away.
The Berkeley Lab stated in a press release that it will be bright enough that skywatchers may be able to see it with a pair of binoculars. It is near the Big Dipper constellation and can be seen best within the first few hours after sunset.
Astrophysicist Peter Nugent spotted the supernova on Aug. 24 while checking a robotic telescope at the lab to see of it had picked up anything interesting the night before.
Other telescopes soon zoomed in to catch Supernova 2011fe, which is generating a buzz because it is what's called a Type Ia.
"Type Ia supernova are the kind we use to measure the expansion of the universe," Mark Sullivan, an Oxford University team leader who was among the first to follow up on the discovery, stated. "Seeing one explode so close by allows us to study these events in unprecedented detail."
The lab reported it was discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory survey, which is meant to observe astronomical events as they happen.
Veteran supernova hunter Robert Kirshner told The Washington Post that "this is not an every-year event... This is an every-decade-or-four event."
Nugent said via a YouTube video that viewers should be able to see it as it approaches peak brightness by Friday. It can be seen in the Ursa Major constellation, better known as the Big Dipper.
Nugent suggested skywatchers should take the last two stars in the Big Dipper's handle, form an equilateral triangle heading north and find the Pinwheel Galaxy.
The EarthSky.org stated that a strong pair of binoculars, possibly an 80 mm pair, or a small telescope will likely be needed to spot it.
It can be seen in the northwestern sky within the few hours after sunset. The best place to see it is out in the country where there isn't as much light to interfere.