Supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy
All was quiet in the Whirlpool Galaxy….. until suddenly the core collapsed of a yellow supergiant star called SN 2011dh and the star exploded .
This was observed one week ago and we have included the pictures of the galaxy on the left.
The left hand image shows the Whirlpool Galaxy before the star exploded as a supernova. The right hand image shows a closeup of the supernova as shown by the arrow.
Interestingly this is the third supernova like this seen in the Whirlpool galaxy in 17 years…… 2011, 2005 and 1994
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Black Eye Galaxy 10th March 2011 (Click to Enlarge)
Image processed by sydneystargazers.com
The Black-eye galaxy consists of dust and stars which are rotating in 2 directions. This is because the galaxy is the result of 2 galaxies colliding together, resulting in the dark ridge on the upper left of the nucleus which gives this galaxy it’s name.
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oriani galaxy 9th March 2011 (Click to Enlarge)
Image processed by sydneystargazers.
Look closely and you will see a string of supernova below the galaxies nucleus. There are at least 6 supernova that have been seen in M61.
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