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KALININGRAD, May 23. Scientists of the Astronomical Society of the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (BFU) managed to capture a rare and unique astronomical phenomenon — a supernova explosion (a phenomenon when a star sharply increases its brightness ) in a neighboring galaxy, the press service of the university told reporters.
«The star, which was assigned the index SN 2023ixf, was discovered in the M101 galaxy (also known as the Pinwheel because of its pronounced spiral shape) on May 19 this year. And on the night of May 23, IKBFU astronomers managed to capture it using a special equipment,» the press service of the university said.
According to the BFU, the processed image, composed of dozens of frames from the astronomical camera, clearly shows a bright dot on the edge of the M101 spiral disk.
«Despite its tiny size, it shines brighter than the core of the galaxy, which is no smaller than the Milky Way and consists of hundreds of billions of stars,» IKBFU shared.
According to scientists, supernova explosions happen all the time, but most of them happen very far from the Earth.
«Such a bright supernova explosion, which we have been observing for several days now, occurs as a result of the collapse of a star — the process of explosive destruction of its structure. As a result, monstrous energy is released, after which we observe the brightest flash, comparable to the radiance of billions of stars» , — said Alexei Baigashov, head of the Astronomical Community of the IKBFU, quoted by the press service.
Kant Baltic Federal University astronomers plan to continue shooting supernova to capture its decrease in brightness over time.