       APOD: 2018 February 28 - NGC 613 in Dust, Stars, and a Supernova

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                               2018 February 28
                                      [2]
                   NGC 613 in Dust, Stars, and a Supernova
   Image Credit: NASA [3] , ESA [4] , Hubble [5] , S. Smartt [6] (QUB [7] );
          Acknowledgement: Robert Gendler [8] ; Insets:  Victor Buso

Explanation: Where did that spot come from? Amateur astronomer Victor Buso was
testing out a new camera on his telescope in 2016 when he noticed a curious
spot of light appear -- and remain. After reporting this unusual observation
[9] , this spot was determined to be light from a supernova [10] just as it
was becoming visible -- in an earlier stage than had ever been photographed
optically before. The discovery before and after images, taken about an hour
apart, are shown in the inset of a more detailed image [11] of the same spiral
galaxy, NGC 613 [12] , taken by the Hubble Space Telescope [13] . Follow-up
observations show that SN 2016gkg [14]  was likely the explosion of a
supergiant star [15] , and Buso likely captured the stage where the outgoing
detonation wave [16] from the stellar core broke through [17] the star's
surface. Since astronomers [18]  have spent years monitoring galaxies for
supernovas [19]  without seeing such a "break out" event [20] , the odds of
Buso capturing this have been compared [21]  to winning a lottery [22] .

                      Tomorrow's picture: open space [23]

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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1802/NGC613_HubbleBuso_1280.jpg
  [3] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [4] http://www.esa.int/
  [5] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
  [6] https://star.pst.qub.ac.uk/~sjs/
  [7] https://star.pst.qub.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php
  [8] http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/
  [9]
http://news.berkeley.edu/2018/02/21/
amateur-astronomer-captures-rare-first-light-from-massive-exploding-star/
  [10] https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/supernova/en/
  [11] http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1539a/
  [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_613
  [13] ap010806.html
  [14] https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.04587
  [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergiant_star
  [16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgv6IJnRrlI
  [17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKMxyMnVaew
  [18] http://sainthelenaisland.info/astronomysirius.jpg
  [19] http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/bait/kait.html
  [20] https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25151
  [21] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/science/supernova-photo-camera.html
  [22] https://www.flickr.com/photos/ldevreeede/2856559399/sizes/o/
  [23] ap18029.html
  [24] ap180227.html
  [25] archivepix.html
  [26] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [27] lib/aptree.html
  [28] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [29] calendar/allyears.html
  [30] /apod.rss
  [31] lib/edlinks.html
  [32] lib/about_apod.html
  [33] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180228
  [34] ap180229.html
  [35] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [36] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [37] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [38] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [39] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
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  [41] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
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