Though we all have differences, there’s one commonality that has prevailed for all of humanity: we are all floating on a rock, flying through outer space at over a million miles an hour.
Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology in the past century, we can observe much more of the universe than we ever thought possible.
The scale and sheer size of the universe make it impossible to truly learn everything, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Here's what's happening in space this week.
Telescopes around the world are aimed at the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) this week to get a glimpse of its latest breathtaking feature: a new supernova.
The newly exploded star was discovered by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki on May 19 and has been dubbed SN 2023ixf. It's located in the Pinwheel Galaxy, also commonly referred to as Messier 101 or M101.
M101 is a spiral galaxy located 21 million light years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. SN 2023ixf is the closest supernova astronomers have observed in the last five years. The closest supernova prior to SN 2023ixf was SN 2014J located 12 million light c years from Earth in the galaxy Messier 82.
Upon Itagaki's discovery, SN 2023ixf was classified as a Type II (core-collapse) supernova. According to NASA, a Type II supernova occurs at the end of a massive star's lifetime when its nuclear fuel is depleted. The star's iron core then collapses and becomes a supernova.
Following the initial discovery of the rare supernova, images from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) taken two days prior were found, confirming Itagaki's findings. The explosion's magnitude in Itagaki's initial images was 14.9, while the photos from two days prior showed it at 15.87.
This is exciting news for astronomers as it's a rare opportunity to observe a supernova from a relatively close distance. Amateur astronomers are also paying close attention and have begun sharing their images of the massive explosion.
The supernova was discovered last Friday, but the actual explosion happened much, much earlier than that. In fact, it happened 21 million years ago. The light from the violent explosion had been traveling for 21 million years before it reached Earth last week.
Astronomers will continue to monitor SN 2023ixf as it's expected to brighten over the next few days and will remain visible to telescopes for months.
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