邻近螺旋星系M101刚发现的超新星

2023年5月22日

Supernova Discovered in Nearby Spiral Galaxy M101
Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks

Explanation: A nearby star has exploded and humanity’s telescopes are turning to monitor it. The supernova, dubbed SN 2023ixf, was discovered by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki three days ago and subsequently located on automated images from the Zwicky Transient Facility two days earlier. SN 2023ixf occurred in the photogenic Pinwheel Galaxy M101, which, being only about 21 million light years away, makes it the closest supernova seen in the past five years, the second closest in the past 10 years, and the second supernova found in M101 in the past 15 years. Rapid follow up observations already indicate that SN 2023ixf is a Type II supernova, an explosion that occurs after a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses. The featured image shows home spiral galaxy two days ago with the supernova highlighted, while the roll-over image shows the same galaxy a month before. SN 2023ixf will likely brighten and remain visible to telescopes for months. Studying such a close and young Type II supernova may yield new clues about massive stars and how they explode.

Tomorrow’s picture: just above jupiter

邻近螺旋星系M101刚发现的超新星
影像提供与版权: Craig Stocks

说明: 邻近的一颗恒星发生了爆炸，而人类的望远镜正转向去监控它。这颗名为SN 2023ifx的超新星，是在三天前由日本天文学家板垣浩一所发现，并在更早二天由兹威基瞬态设施自动拍摄的影像里找到它的身影。SN 2023ifx出现在美丽的风车星系M101里，距离我们约只有2,100万光年远，是在过去五年里观测到的最邻近超新星，也是10年来第二近及在M101中发现的第二颗超新星。从后续的快速后续观测得知，SN 2023ifx是第II型超新星，是一颗大质量恒星在耗尽核燃料并发生塌缩后所发生的爆炸事件。这幅主题影像呈现两天前所拍摄的寄主螺旋星系，其中的超新星特别予以标记，而轮替的影像则是摄于一个月前的同一星系。SN 2023ifx可能会再增亮，并在数个月用望远镜皆可见。研究如此邻近和年轻的第II型超新星，让我们有机会获得攸关大质量恒星及它如何爆炸的新线索。