[BAA-ebulletin 00561] Bright Supernova in Galaxy NGC 2655

[Whitters]

From The Deep Sky Section 2011 Feb 1

A "Bright" Supernova in Galaxy NGC 2655

The majority of supernovae discovered these days tend to be around magnitude 16 or 17 and so approaching the limit of most telescopes owned by BAA members operated from less than pristine sites. And certainly beyond the visual range of most observers. SN 2011B, discovered by Koichi Itagaki on 2011 Jan 7, is located in galaxy NGC 2655, a mag 10.1 spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis.

The galaxy lies at RA 8h 55m 38.7s and Dec +78d 13m 28s and the SN is located 31.7" east and 21.4" south of the galaxy centre. An image of the galaxy/ SN can be found at http://www.supernovae.net/snimages/

Under a rare clear sky tonight both Martin Mobberley (image) and Gary Poyner (visual) have estimated the magnitude of the SN at 13.4.

This is the brightest northern supernova for some time and with the Moon out of the sky and the possibility of clearer skies for the next few days an ideal opportunity to observe an exploding star at first hand. Please send your observations and images to the Deep Sky Section at sigarro@btinternet.com

Stewart Moore
Director Deep Sky Section