News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids. Brightest supernova in 40 years appears. Berkeley scientists this week discovered a new supernova, closer to Earth than any seen in the last 40 years, and believe they've spotted it within hours of its explosion.
Astronomers are now scrambling to observe it with as many telescopes as possible, including the Hubble Space Telescope, and it's likely to remain a major target for research for the next decade or more. Dubbed PTF 11kly, the supernova is about 21 million light-years away in the Pinwheel Galaxy, in the Ursa Major constellation. It was discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey, which uses a robotic telescope mounted on the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope to scan the sky nightly.
Astronomy. Universe Today — Space and astronomy news. News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids.