Supernova 2024gy

Photographer: John ChumackSummary Author: John Chumack

Shown above is supernova 2024gy (type Ia) in the spiral galaxy NGC 4216. It's found in the constellation Virgo. Some 55 million years ago, a star in this galaxy became a supernova, and the light from that event just reached my telescope/camera system this past winter. Appearing as a new point of light, it nearly outshines the galaxy itself. A Type Ia Supernova (read: "type one-A") occurs in binary systems (two stars orbiting one another), in which one of the stars is a white dwarf. The other star can be anything from a giant star to an even smaller white dwarf.

Discovered by Koichi Itagaki on January 4, 2024, the supernova's brightness was 16.3 magnitude at the time of discovery, but when I shot it in mid-January its magnitude was 13.2 and still climbing. The annotated negative image at bottom shows the position of 2024gy in NGC 4216 as well as fainter galaxies and celestial objects.

Photo Details: Captured from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio; using a 50 mm Seestar Smart Scope; 29 minutes' worth of data was collected.

Dayton, Ohio Coordinates: 39.7589, -84.1916

Related Links:Supernova SN 2017aewA Supernova Remnant in CygnusJohn's Galactic Images Website