On the evening of the 31st of May, according to archival images currently under review, the first indications emerged of a supernova that erupted (as seen from Earth) in the Whirlpool Galaxy, approximately 37 million light-years from us. On the left is an image of galaxy M51 in 2004, a NASA test ground image.

On the evening of 4 June, 2011, Matt Partalis, and SoVerA Research Group Member Dick Smith took an image (on right) of the supernova as it was fading. There were some slight tracking errors (aka “Astro Gremlins”) in the mount which account for the short star trails, but the supernova is unmistakable, as per the indicator lines. All other trails in the image are of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. If you think of the Whirlpool as an itsy-bitsy tree on the distant horizon that you are viewing from your car, those other stars are like bugs on the windshield…relatively close.

The image was taken using Dick’s 0.5 meter research telescope in Weston, VT.