Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5471
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M101 The PinWheel with SN 2023ixf, Tommy Mastro
M101 The PinWheel with SN 2023ixf
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M101 The PinWheel with SN 2023ixf

Revision title: Rev1

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M101 The PinWheel with SN 2023ixf, Tommy Mastro
M101 The PinWheel with SN 2023ixf
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M101 The PinWheel with SN 2023ixf

Revision title: Rev1

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Description

The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.

Spectra indicate that SN 2023ixf is a Type II supernova — the catastrophic destruction of an aging supergiant star. Massive suns fuse simpler elements into more complicated ones all the way up to iron. Each step liberates energy that pushes back against the force of gravity and stabilizes the star. But the buck stops at iron. Stable as a proverbial brick house, it takes crazy amounts of energy to fuse it — energy the star can't produce. No longer able to beat back gravity's crush, the star suddenly collapses. Material falling inward bounces off the shrinking core, creating shock waves that rebound outward and rip the supergiant apart in a titanic explosion. Type II events leave a neutron star or black hole in their wake — the tiny remnant of a life lived bigly.

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M101 The PinWheel with SN 2023ixf, Tommy Mastro