This animated GIF is the result of parallel processing the data I acquired for this target in February 2022 and the data acquired in mid-May 2023 after the supernova was discovered.
The GIF shows a gradual brightening and this is simply an effect created by interpolating between the images.
For a static image of the Supernova, please see
M101 Bright Blue Supernova SN 2023ixf Observations:
1) This supernova is bright. Look at the intensity of diffraction spikes compared to stars within our own galaxy.
2) Processing data collected over a year apart and attempting top match the color, amount of stretching, etc is a real challenge. These are close but not perfect and I never would have gotten close without GHS Stretching. Matching average luminance, color, saturation is for me an eyeball process (with all the shades closed so my eye isn't perturbed by sunlight). There was one optical difference in the telescope so this may explain a small bit of the variation.
3)This was a lot of fun, and a lot of work, and I learned a lot trying to get a reasonable animation GIF file for posting. Hope you enjoy.
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