Over the next few days, those of us in the nothern hemisphere will have the rare chance to watch a star explode - hopefully via nothing more than a small telescope.
A supernova has been spotted in a nearby galaxy, located in the Ursa Major constellation, a find that might even help the study of dark energy. An automated telescope detected the blast on 25 August as part of the Palomar Transient Factory sky survey.
The explosion is taking place about 25 million light years from Earth, in a spiral galaxy called the Pinwheel, also known as M101. It is still increasing in brightness, and may eventually be visible with small telescopes.
The new supernova, called PTF11kly, is a member of a particularly interesting class called Type Ia. These occur when a white dwarf star tears itself to bits in a nuclear explosion.
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/08/nearby-supernova-may-help-dark.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-newsSee also:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/08/25/astroalert-type-ia-supernova-in-m101/http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/08/bright_supernova_one_of_the_ne.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14681119The brightest one since 1972.
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