Saw the Supernova in M82 Last Night!

Although there were thin, high cirrus clouds in the sky last night, we went out to try to see the supernova in M82. And there it was! Dim, visible only with averted vision, but a distinct bright dot towards the edge of the galaxy: an old star that blew itself to smithereens 12 million years ago, but just now visible due to the finite speed of light. I was using my 5" (130mm) APO refractor and had a hard time seeing it, but that was probably just due to the cirrus cloud cover. This supernova will continue to be visible for the next coupld of weeks and is still brightening!

Supernova in Galaxy M82, 12 million light years distant. The closest supernova to us in 28 years.

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