Supernova in M74

[Ivan Maly]

All who were still up on the field before astronomical twilight this morning enjoyed excellent transparency as well as good seeing in the last hour. My last target was M74, which was climbing to a respectable altitude. The supernova 2013ej was brighter than the foreground stars (although the sketch exaggerates it). Several enhancements tracing the arms were visible, and some of these features could be associated with the brightest of the compact HII regions. One compact HII region was intermittently but consistently visible as such, Hodge 627 in the terminal star cloud of the southern arm. 16", 225x.

2013-08-04 sn2013ej in M74 600x800 inv.jpg

[Ron Abbott]

Ivan,
I was hoping to view the SN last Wednesday, but the skies started to get "muddy" about 1:30am. Will try again this Friday, providing the weather cooperates.
Your sketch is tempting!

Regards,
Ron Abbott
Land of Oz Observatory
http://www.astrolandofoz.com

[hajuem]

Ivan,
Very good Observation and sketch!! I `am hoping i see the SN in the next days...and i hope i have the same seeing-conditions

Regards, Hajü

[Pavebo]

Hello Ivan,

Nice sketch!

Please, find here my "fast" picture of supernova being done today morning (for comparison).

Best regards

Pavel

Picture data: Atik428Ex, 21 minutes in bin2x2, Astronomik CCD CLS filter, Meade 12", focus 3m, starting time: 3:50 (UTC+1:00)

[Don Pensack]

I thought it was the brightest and most obvious superimposed star.
I had a great view Monday night--superb details in the spiral arms at 304X in my 12.5"

[Ron Abbott]

Pavel,

GREAT image! I envy you. I tried to image this object last weekend, but the sky got muddy before the object was well placed, and nothing but clouds and rain since then. Tomorrow night is supposed to be clear. If it cooperates, I will try to get an image of this SN. If successful, I will post it.

Ron
Land of Oz Observatory
http://www.astrolandofoz.com

[Steve Gottlieb]

Nice treat being able to see two "bright" supernovae last Monday night (August 5th) -- M74 (2013ej), along with NGC 7250 (2013dy) in Lacerta.

[Ivan Maly]

As I was locating NGC 7250 that night we had some passing patches of haze and I gave up and did not return to it... I should try again tonight, the forecast is very nice.

It is interesting how Pavel's photo shows clearly that the HII region Hodge 627 (combined with the brightest, Vm 15.9, star association Ivanov 52 with which it coincides) is the brightest compact enhancement in the galaxy. Color and processing obscure this in images I had seen. Here is the Ivanov et al. paper about associations:

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992A%26AS...96..645I

[Ron Abbott]

Finally caught a break with the weather. Tonight is crystal clear, calm and not humid (a rarity in Kansas in the summer!). I have already succeeded in imaging the type 1a supernova in NGC 7250, and am now waiting for M 74 to get high enough so I can start to image the supernova in it.

Stargazr,
Land of Oz Observatory
http://www.astrolandofoz.com

[RolandosCY]

I saw the supernova on Thursday night. Although M74 was rather low and in a slightly light polluted area of the sky, the amount of detail visible through my 18" was incredible. I had not seen M74 through any telescope in many years, and then I believe that the biggest telescope I ever pointed to M74 was my 4" Tak refractor! I guess this is the typical "faint fuzzy syndrome": always trying to detect objects at the edge of detectability and forgetting the bright ones!.

Thanks to SN 2013ej I discovered a "new" amazing target, for the clear skies of the fall!

m74a1.jpg

[Ivan Maly]

That is fine detail for being low in the sky! Yes I also find it rewarding to go back to the supposedly "easy" objects with the larger aperture. I am far from done with M74, for example, although good sky conditions are critical for seeing any new detail at this point. Saturday night I reobserved the supernova and the Hodge 627/Ivanov 52 knot, but the conditions were not that spectacular, so it was hard to see any other small features in the arms.