Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5447  ·  NGC 5449  ·  NGC 5450  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5453  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5462  ·  NGC 5471  ·  Pinwheel galaxy
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The Pinwheel Galaxy and Supernova SN 2023ixf, jrtb
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The Pinwheel Galaxy and Supernova SN 2023ixf

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Pinwheel Galaxy and Supernova SN 2023ixf, jrtb
Powered byPixInsight

The Pinwheel Galaxy and Supernova SN 2023ixf

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Description

Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a face-on spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781 and subsequently logged by Charles Messier in his catalogue of nebulous objects.Located approximately 21 million light-years from Earth, M101 is noted for its high population of H II regions, many of which are very large and bright. H II regions usually contain hot, young stars and are areas where star formation occurs. This galaxy is about 70% larger than our own Milky Way, with a diameter of around 170,000 light-years.

Supernova 2023ixf was discovered on May 19th, 2023 by Amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki. It is is a type II (core collapse) and has been as bright as magnitude 11. You can see it in this image! 

73 x 300 second exposures for just over 6 hours total exposure.

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The Pinwheel Galaxy and Supernova SN 2023ixf, jrtb