View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Likness in Monroe, Washington, captured this image on May 25, 2023. Jeremy wrote: “A few weeks ago, supernova 2023ixf was discovered. A massive star ran out of fuel and violently collapsed, causing a brilliant explosion that can be clearly seen 21 million light-years away. It is the closet supernova to earth in the past 5 years and the 2nd discovered in the area in the past 15 years. Messier 101, Pinwheel Galaxy, supernova visible top middle.” Thank you, Jeremy!
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A new, close supernova
A new supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy, aka M101, is the closest to Earth in a decade. Amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki discovered it on May 19, 2023. The supernova should remain visible to amateur astronomers with backyard telescopes for a few months. The supernova – named 2023ixf – lies in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major, near the end of the handle of the Big Dipper.
The last supernova in M101 was in 2011. Andy Howell, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explained on Twitter that the 2011 explosion resulted from a white dwarf that underwent a thermonuclear supernova. Andy said that the new supernova is most likely from a different cause, from a core collapse of a massive star at the end of its life. While observers won’t be able to see this supernova with the unaided eye, amateurs should be able to catch it backyard telescopes. As Andy said:
… this new supernova will increase in brightness over the coming days. You should be able to see it with backyard telescopes, for a few months, though it will just be a point of light.
Star chart for Ursa Major. M101 is in red on the left near the Big Dipper’s handle. Image via Wikimedia Commons/ IAU/ Sky and Telescope.
How close is the closest in a decade?
M101 is 21 million light-years away. So even though it just appeared to us on Earth Friday, it occurred 21 million years ago. And even though it’s the closest in a decade, it’s still quite far away. In fact, according to a recent study based on data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory , a supernova would have to be within 160 light-years of Earth before we would feel its damaging effects. Formerly, it was believed a supernova would have to be within 50 light-years of Earth to impact our planet. Instead, we get to watch a relatively rare event as scientists gather information on the new supernova.
Supernova before-and-after image
Look in the upper arm of this galaxy- you'll see a star appear to blink in and out of existence. That's a supernova! Very recently discovered in m101: the Pinwheel galaxy (which I happened to be shooting when this happened) pic.twitter.com/8hvplfXNtd
Breaking news, today a new Type 2 Supernova appeared in the Pinwheel galaxy (M101) around lunchtime today and I got images tonight. This is a VERY rare event! Despite heavy forest fire smoke, light pollution and aurora, it still shines through strongly. Seems to have… pic.twitter.com/Jpmp2ZPjva
View larger. | Eliot Herman of Tucson, Arizona, using the Utah Desert Remote Observatories, made this collage illustrating the evolution of Supernova 2023ixf on May 22, 2023. Eliot wrote: “Supernova 2023ixf in M101 is rising in brightness in the three days since its discovery. Supernova 2023ixf was discovered on May 19th, and these images are a series showing how its brightness is rising from day one through three after discovery. All images were captured with iTelescope T68 and are 11 x 90 sec. (color) and 7 x 120 sec iTelescope T11.” As Eliot reflected upon this event, he told us in an e-mail: “I hope the denizens of nearby M101 planets, ducked 21 million years ago, they might have gone the way of the dinosaurs… we will never know, but it is sobering to think every time we see fireworks, there might be mass extinctions in its wake, all a roll of the cosmic dice.” Thank you, Eliot!
For the supernova images, each photographer chooses their own orientation. Therefore, you can see the supernova in various locations, such as in the 2, 11, 5, or 8 o’clock positions, for example. That’s because there is no standard way to capture a galaxy (there’s no “up” in space).
View larger. | Eliot Herman of Tucson, Arizona, using the Utah Desert Remote Observatories, made this amazing image of Supernova 2023ixf on May 26, 2023. Eliot wrote: “Peak supernova. Now that the M101 supernova has peaked (it appears), there should be some time, when it remains this bright, that many nights of imagery can be acquired with the supernova appearing unchanged. This is the first two days of this project with the luminance channel and in subsequent days other channels can be captured. This, being the best supernova in decade, it is worth the effort to capture lots of data.” Magnificent shot. Thank you, Eliot!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman took this photo of Supernova 2023ixf on May 24, 2023 using the Utah Desert Remote Observatories. Eliot wrote: “Supernova 2023ixf may have peaked at magnitude 11 +/- 0.2 for the past 2 days based on the data posted to American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). This image shows the supernova at this apparent peak brightness.” Thank you, Eliot!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Our friend Eliot Herman used the Utah Desert Remote Observatories to capture this image of the new supernova in M101 – the Pinwheel Galaxy – just hours after its discovery on May 19, 2023. See the bright spot by the yellow arrowhead? This is the closest supernova to us in more than a decade. Eliot commented: “There will be many weeks to watch this one evolve.” Thank you, Eliot!
Before-and-after comparison
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, took these images in 2022 and 2023, and wrote: “Supernova 2023ixf in the Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101) was discovered on May 19 by amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki. Last night (May 22) I imaged the Pinwheel Galaxy and supernova 2023ixf. Although transparency was poor, the supernova is obvious when compared to an image of the Pinwheel Galaxy that I captured in March 2022.” Thank you, David!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Paul Macklin in Bloomington, Indiana, made this 4-day comparison of Supernova 2023ixf before its discovery and after. Paul wrote: “This image captures the new supernova SN 2023ixf in Messier 101, just before and after its appearance, from an Indiana backyard. On May 16, 2023, the supernova was not visible in a 5 hour integrated exposure. On May 20th, it was clear as a brilliant white star even in 3-minute exposures. I tried to process and crop both ‘before’ and ‘after’ as similarly as possible. The left image is 5 hours of 3-min exposures; the right is 6 hours of 3-min exposures; both nights without filter.” Thank you, Paul!
More supernova images
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, captured this telescopic image of Supernova 2023ixf on May 21, 2023. Thank you, Mario!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Greg Redfern in Fremont, California, captured this telescopic image of Supernova 2023ixf in only half-a-second, on May 21, 2023. Greg wrote: “Supernova 2023ixf is so bright it could be imaged in just 500 milliseconds with my Unistellar eVscope 2! Pretty amazing!” Thank you, Greg!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Richard Edmonds near Flagstaff, Arizona, captured this telescopic image of Supernova 2023ixf on May 20, 2023. Richard wrote: “It was late. I had been shooting M51 and M63 when around 11:45 I decided to try for M101. I had not heard about the supernova but was just trying to capture one more galaxy before calling it a night. I noticed dew forming on my telescope and finder tube, so I increased the ISO from 1600 to 3200 to shorten exposure time even though this would increase the camera noise level. This was a lucky move because, after the fourth frame, my auto guider was losing track due to dew on its optics. I had to quit at five frames.” Thank you, Richard!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Orlando Montes in Charles City, Iowa, captured this telescopic image of galaxy Messier 101 on May 19, 2023, showing the then newly discovered supernova 2023ixf. Orlando wrote: “Coincidentally, I was capturing M101 the very same night that the supernova was discovered!” Thank you, Orlando!
Pre-discovery images
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Dorothy Willilams in Fremont, California, captured this telescopic image of galaxy Messier 101 on May 12, 2023, one week before the discovery of Supernova 2023ixf. Dorothy wrote: “This image was taken on May 12 around 11:00 pm. There is a faint smudge where the supernova was found on May 19. The smudge may or may not show the pre-supernova before it became bright enough to be found.” Thank you, Dorothy!
Bottom line: An amateur astronomer discovered a new supernova in M101 – the Pinwheel Galaxy – on May 19, 2023. The supernova will be visible to amateurs in backyard telescopes for a few months.
Kelly Kizer Whitt - EarthSky’s roving nature reporter on YouTube - writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She's been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children's picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.
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