Revision as of 21:19, 18 May 2014

Supernova 1994D in Galaxy NGC 4526, Hubble telescope

A supernova is a stellar explosion caused when the mass of a star's core exceeds the sustainable limit or when nuclear fusion produces more energy than the star can contain. The explosion emits massive amounts of energy. Supernovae are classified as cataclysmic variables, the majority of which are close binary systems. Supernovae show sudden, dramatic, and final magnitude increases of 20 magnitudes or more, compared to a regular nova, which typically brighten 7 to 16 magnitudes.

The data collected below comes from multiple sources, although primary catalog is compiled leveraging IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) operates under the auspices of Commission 6 of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and is a nonprofit organization, with principal funding coming from subscriptions to the various services offered by the Bureau, and (during 2008-2010) also from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

I'm cataloging these primarily as a personal education tool, and to begin tracking supernova I have photographed.

SN 2014J

SN 2014J in Messier 82, Messier 81 to the right. Taken Jan 29, 2014

SN 2014J is a type Ia supernova in Messier 82, and was discovered in mid-January 2014. It is the closest type-Ia supernova discovered in the past 42 years. The last supernova that was unambiguously closer to Earth than SN 2014J was SN 2004dj, which was of Type II-P supernova. This supernova occurred in the galaxy NGC 2403. Due to the brightneszs of this supernova, many automated search programs which search for supernovas actually ignored this one (assuming error). It was discovered accidentally during an undergraduate teaching session at University of London Observatory. I shot this on January 29th, two days before SN2014J stopped brightening, which reached its peak brightness at magnitude 10.5.

Recent Supernovae

Date	SN	Photo	Host Galaxy		Date-SN	R.A.	Decl.	Offset	Mag.	Disc	. Ref.	SN Position	Posn	. Ref.	Type	SN	Discoverer(s)	Note
5/7/2014	2014ba		NGC 7410		2014 05 07	22 55.0	-39 40	12E 6N	14.7	CBET	3873	22 55 01.97 -39 39 34.5	CBET	3873	Ia-p	2014ba	Parker
4/30/2014	2014az		NGC 7691		2014 04 30	23 32.4	+15 51	22W 18N	16.3	CBET	3872	23 32 22.84 +15 51 10.6	CBET	3872	IIp	2014az	Parker
5/4/2014	2014ay		UGC 11037		2014 05 04	17 55.1	+18 15		16.7	CBET	3871	17 55 05.43 +18 15 26.4	CBET	3871	II	2014ay	Holoien et al. (All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae)
5/3/2014	2014ax		UGC 10318		2014 05 03	16 16.3	+64 06	2E 3S	17.6	CBET	3867	16 16 18.16 +64 06 06.3	CBET	3867	IIP	2014ax	Boles
4/25/2014	2014aw		Anon.		2014 04 25	16 10.4	+47 05		16.5	CBET	3866	16 10 23.61 +47 04 40.3	CBET	3866	Ia	2014aw	Drake et al. (Catalina Real-time Transient Survey)

Supernovae By Year

2014 Supernovae

2013 Supernovae