With this year’s version, we’re delivering much more than just another yearly release. Supernova represents a modernized overhaul of the software – both visually and technically – while retaining the familiarity and flexibility you expect.
It's your first step into the future of Thunderbird.
This space bubble looks serene in this #Hubble image, but it is the result of one of the most energetic events in the universe: a supernova explosion. Known as SNR 0509, it exploded about 400 years ago, as seen from Earth: https://bit.ly/3QtD4u5 #space#astronomy#supernova
A bright supernova just popped off in nearby galaxy M101! Not naked-eye bright, but should be visible through a decent amateur telescope.
M101 is about 21 million light years away, so this signal has been on its way to Earth for a looong time. https://www.wis-tns.org/object/2023ixf/discovery-cert#Supernova#M101#Astrodon
And I just happened to catch it from my city light-polluted backyard, using a 5cm aperture SeestarS50!
Check it out ... on the left is my image (only 25 mins of data). The cross hairs indicate a 'new star' appearing in galaxy NGC 3621. The right image is from Stellarium and I have annotated where the new star appears, and how it was not there before.
This is a type II supernova, so a massive star's core collapsed and triggered off an extremely violent explosion that we are seeing 22 million years later.
It likely formed a neutron star or pulsar!
It is incredibly bright and I encourage everyone to turn their telescopes towards it and get data / light curves!
Really gutted! My old telescope mount is fried and my new one not set up yet ... because ...
THERE IS A FRESH CORE COLLAPSE SUPERNOVA IN NGC 1097
I've imaged this galaxy many times before so a fresh supernova would have been a good pre/post image to catch!
One thing I really love about this galaxy is the central star-forming ring, which measures about 5,000 light years in diameter. It's a beautiful feature and one that can be captured from backyard telescopes.
A couple of older images from me first. NGC 1097 and a close-up of it core, where I compared my very shabby 1-hour, no darks, flats, bias image to Hubble's of the star formation ring. Amazed I could even get any of these results from my light-polluted backyard.
Supernova 2023rve was discovered on 8 Sept 2023, and is a great target for southern observers right now (crying) ... the galaxy reaches almost the zenith (85-degrees elevation) around 2:30 am Sydney time ... the perfect imaging time!
Also sharing a capture from South Australia by Kym Thalassoudis.
Southern observers, turn your telescopes to NGC 1097! A pulsar was just born (well, 48 million years ago it was) ...
#JWST is often cited for its amazing work with galaxies, BUT LOOK AT IT DISSECTING UP THE CRAB NEBULA AND SHOWING US STAR GUTS FROM A 1000-YEAR OLD STELLAR DETONATION.
Wow! Look at the pulsar!
So epic that we can see this detail, the different structures, elements, velocities, energies, etc. from an event that Chinese and Japanese astronomers witnessed and documented 1000 years back.
We're connected through time with this event to them!
Remember when our fav red supergiant that refuses to go supernova dimmed in 19-20?
Well now, another colossal star - RW Cephei - has been caught in the act, dimming significantly (1/3 brightness!) likely caused by an eruption of gas that cooled to dust. 👀
I know lots of folks don’t want Betelgeuse to go supernova because it would ruin Orion - a constellation that humans have observed since the beginning times, and I feel this too.
But I need a ‘local’ supernova in my lifetime.
So RW Cephei will do. Also, hurry TF up Eta Carinae. We’re waiting.
Astronomers Watched a Massive Star Just... Disappear. Now JWST Might Have Some Answers
In 2009, astronomers watched a bizarre mystery unfold. An enormous star, with 25 times the mass of the Sun, faded away and disappeared. Although it had been long theorized, it's believed this was a type of failed supernova, where a giant star imploded into a black hole without a bright flash. Astronomers have turned the mighty JWST on the region and found a bright infrared source. Their observations match a stellar merger instead of a single star failed supernova, but there are still more questions than answers.
Behold: in this Hα/OIII/SII + broadband RGB composite image of total exposure time 258 hours, the newly discovered #supernova remnant G107.5-5.2 in the constellation #Cassiopeia.
However, a secondary paper from a few days back, which also used JWST MIRI, found no evidence of the compact remnant in their data: https://arxiv.org/html/2402.14014v1
Almost 2 years ago I wrote a feature article looking at the evidence for this, so these new papers and findings are exciting!
Astrophotographers/astronomers with 'scopes capable of low-res spectrography:
Turn your telescopes to NGC 3621, a field galaxy only 7 MPC away! Supernova alert issued with progenitor data available. ⭐💥
NGC 3621 (aka the Frame Galaxy or Southern Cross Galaxy) is fairly bright and if you are around the same latitude as Sydney (many southern cities) it gets very near zenith around 9 - 10pm local time, so an easy and bright target.
A new #JWST view of the remnant of Supernova 1987A.
SN 1987A has been a target of intense observations at wavelengths ranging from gamma rays to radio for nearly 40 years, since its discovery in February of 1987. Located 168,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, it was the nearest supernova to explode in the era of modern telescopes.
I have been using @thunderbird for the longest time now since I ever needed email. To be honest I've used it when I needed to then left, but something always brought me back to #Thunderbird.
Recently I found out about the #ThunderCast#podcast and it's great to hear from this open source team and the time and energy to keep it modern. Just updated to the #SuperNova 115 version and it's awesome!
The podcast is where I learned Thuderbird has addons too!
🌠🌠🌠
Archaeologists have discovered a 2,400-year-old stone map of the night sky in Italy. The map shows 29 stars carved on a circular stone, including Orion, Scorpius and Pleiades. The map is very accurate, except for one mysterious star that might have been a supernova or a black hole. 🌠🌠🌠
Featured in Nature's selection of the best #science images of the month: a composite image of the Cassiopeia A #supernova remnant that brings together data from several #NASA telescopes: X-rays from #Chandra, infrared from #JWST & #Spitzer, optical data from #Hubble.
I was able to capture the #supernova SN 2024gy in the #galaxy NGC 4216 last night. I did not highlight it but it is the "star" in the upper right edge of the center galaxy in this photo.
This was taken with the Celestron C11 and the Nikon D750 at ISO 800, 46x120s exposures. #astrophotography#Astrodon