New Supernova In Earth's "Backyard"

Astronomers have discovered a new supernova (basically an exploding star that increases greatly in size). The exciting thing is that this is the closest supernova to Earth in the last 25 years -- only 21 million light-years away in the Pinwheel Galaxy. In astronomical terms, that's virtually in Earth's backyard. In the above pictures, it is the growing dot at the tip of the green arrow.

This is also the earliest time in the life-cycle of a supernova that scientists have discovered one. It started out as about an Earth-size object and it had expanded to about the size of the distance between the Sun and Jupiter when it was discovered last Monday (the pictures above were taken on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). Scientists believe it will continue to expand as a normal supernova, and by the first or second week of September it will be visible on a dark night with just a pair of binoculars.

To find it in the sky, look just north of the last two stars in the handle of the Big Dipper. The supernova will form a rough equilateral triangle with those two stars.