The supernova<\/a>, designated SN 2023ixf, was first spotted in the galaxy by astronomer Koichi Itagawa on 19 May 2023.<\/p>\n It was then located in images that had been captured automatically by the Zwicky Transient Facility<\/a> two days earlier.<\/p>\n The Pinwheel Galaxy\u2019s distance to Earth makes this the closest supernova in 5 years.<\/p>\n Amateur astrophotographer and retired physicist Jane Clark photographed the Pinwheel Galaxy from her home in Wales shortly after the new supernova was announced, and managed to capture the bright stellar explosion in her images (see above).<\/p>\n \u201cWith my telescope pointing elsewhere, I wandered into the house and found news of the supernova on social media,\u201d says Clark, who is the observatory manager at Cardiff Astronomical Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI made my excuses to M64, the galaxy I had been imaging, and moved the scope across to M101, being very keen to get one of the first images, even if it wasn\u2019t very good.<\/p>\n \u201cActually, for a piece of unplanned photojournalism, I was very pleased with the result. I obtained 90 x 60s frames, and was able to use 69 of them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe live stack facility in SharpCap 4.0 enabled me to see that the exploding star was easily visible. I used an 11-inch Celestron SCT on a CGX mount, with an f\/6.3 focal reducer.<\/p>\n \u201cThe camera I used to capture the supernova was a ZWO ASI2600MC. I stacked in Siril 1.0.6 and processed the image in PixInsight 1.8.9-1 with the RC extensions, then added finishing touches in Gimp.<\/p>\n \u201cMy date and location at the time of capture was Risca, Wales, 51.6N, 3.08W \u2013 2023 May 21, 01:09-02:41 UT.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the supernova has been discovered, follow-up investigations have revealed that that SN 2023ixf is a Type II supernova, which is a type of stellar explosion that occurs when a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses.<\/p>\n And since Clark sent her images into us here at BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/em>, another amateur astrophotographer has shared his own images of SN 2023ixf.<\/p>\n Martin Bracken is a regular contributor to our Readers\u2019 Gallery<\/a> in the magazine, and sent us the amazing collage above of images showing the supernova\u2019s appearance and brightening over time.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a collage of 4 images of the newly discovered Supernova in M101,\u201d says Bracken.<\/p>\n \u201cI was lucky enough to be imaging M101 on the day it was discovered and the subsequent 3 days. The image clearly shows the progression of the supernova over those three days.<\/p>\n \u201cAll images were captured from my backyard in Chelmsford, UK.\u201d<\/p>\n And, just this morning, our Twitter feed<\/a> has included quite a few wonderful images of the supernova, too.<\/p>\n One user, named Astro Mike, posted this capture:<\/p>\n M101 supernova SN 2023IXF tonight.![\""A\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2023\/05\/M101SN2023ixf20230521C-60973f6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C467"\" "\\"\"M101\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Jane\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2023\/05\/M10120230214result-b-BEFORE-f34e9f8-e1684830361743.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C416"\" "\\"\"Jane\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""A\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2023\/05\/SN2023ixf-supernova-collage-c1b7d5a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C245"\" "\\"\"A\\"\/")
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