Galaxies

NGC 1365 and Supernova SN2012fr

This image shows the large elegant barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365, located in the southern constellation of Fornax at a distance of 56 million light years. The bright and intensely blue star directly below the galaxy core is supernova SN2012fr, which was discovered by Alain Klotz (TAROT La Silla telescope) on 27th October 2012.

As of 10th November 2012 the supernova appeared to be nearing its peak, with an R magnitude of 11.90. To get an idea of how bright this event is we can calculate the absolute magnitude M of the supernova using the following formula where m is the apparent magnitude and D the distance in parsecs:

M = m - 5(log₁₀(D) - 1)

This gives an absolute magnitude of -19.27 for SN2012fr. This means that if the supernova had occurred at a distance to us similar to Betelgeuse (643 light years), then its apparent magnitude would be -12.80, same as the full Moon!

Image details:
Date: 7th and 9th November 2012
Exposure: LRGB: 205:57:56:51m, total 6hrs 9mins @ -30C
Telescope: 10" Serrurier Truss Newtonian f/5
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand

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