cosmology

Welcome to the AAVSO's special webpage devoted to SN 2011fe!

SN 2011fe is the brightest supernova as seen from Earth in nearly 20 years.  It's a rare event that astronomers around the world are excited about -- it's not only a beautiful spectacle, it may also teach us new things about supernovae and the universe that we live in.  Here you'll find information on what SN 2011fe is, why astronomers around the world are watching it, and most importantly, how you can make your own observations and help create a scientific record of this supernova!

This is also available in English

August 24, 2011: P. Nugent et al. report in ATel #3581 that a possible Type-Ia supernova has been discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory shortly after eruption in the galaxy M101 and has been designated "PTF11kly".  The object is currently at a magnitude of g=17.2, but may well rise by several magnitudes. The object is well placed within M101 for good photometry, and observations of this potential bright SNIa are strongly encouraged.

The (J2000) coordinates reported for the object are

    RA: 14:03:05.81 , Dec: +54:16:25.4

RS Puppis as imaged with the ESO NTT (from Kervella et al. 2008)

What are blazars?

(Traducido en español por Jose "Chema" Bescos aquí)