The
Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or
NGC 5457) is a
spiral galaxy 21 million
light-years away from Earth, in the
constellationUrsa 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 [url=mw-redirect=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_Catalogue]Messier Catalogue[/url] as one of its final entries.
On May 19, 2023, a
supernova, designated
SN 2023ixf, was discovered by [url=mw-redirect=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koichi_Itagaki]Koichi Itagaki[/url] and immediately classified as a
type II supernova. The initial
apparent magnitude at discovery was 14.9. After discovery, the
Zwicky Transient Facility project found a
precovery image of the supernova, with an apparent magnitude of 15.87, two days before discovery. The supernova is expected to have left behind either a
neutron star or
black hole based on current
stellar evolution models. It is located near a prominent [url=mw-redirect=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HII_region]HII region[/url], NGC 5461, in an outer spiral arm of M101. By 22 May 2023, SN 2023ixf had brightened to about an apparent magnitude of 11. It can be seen in small telescopes and should remain visually visible with backyard telescopes for just a few months after its discovery. The last supernova this close to Earth was
SN 2014J in
Messier 82, roughly 12 million light-years from Earth and the most recent supernova in M101 was
SN 2011fe.
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