Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  HD122007  ·  HD122149  ·  HD122200  ·  HD122471  ·  HD122545  ·  HD122865  ·  HD123518  ·  HD238331  ·  M 101  ·  NGC 5422  ·  NGC 5443  ·  NGC 5447  ·  NGC 5449  ·  NGC 5450  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5453  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5462  ·  NGC 5471  ·  NGC 5473  ·  NGC 5474  ·  NGC 5475  ·  NGC 5477  ·  NGC 5484  ·  NGC 5485  ·  NGC 5486  ·  Pinwheel galaxy
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M101, georgesinanisastro
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M101

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M101, georgesinanisastro
Powered byPixInsight

M101

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Description

The destroyer of worlds – “LIVE!”
It is one of those moments that something extraordinary happens and the whole scientific and amateur astronomy community, across the world is viewing an extremely rare development in the heavens.
On May the 19th an amateur astronomer located through his telescope a star going supernova at the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), that is approx. 21 million light years away from Earth. And since then the whole scientific world has turned all the telescopes at that area trying to view “live” the development of the explosion.
A supernova rightly is considered to be a destroyer of worlds, as the power it releases is difficult to overstate – it represents a cataclysmic event that can reshape galaxies, produce heavy elements and release unfathomable amounts of energy into the universe. If our sun goes supernova (in about 4-5 billion years), it will decimate every planet or celestial object within the solar system within seconds. Earth, Venus or even Jupiter will just stop to exist and it will turn into dust.
That is exactly the event we are viewing right now – well not right now but, what happened approx. 21 million years ago but, we just managed to get the first light from that event!
I hope you enjoy!

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M101, georgesinanisastro