Supernova Information

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a star exploded.   This star exploded so violently that for a few weeks the star outshone its parent galaxy.   This type of explosion is called a Supernova.   The last one in our galaxy was 400 years ago, making us about 300 years overdue for the next one.   On this web page you will find a list of the currently observable supernovae, along with information on their location, reference images, and their last reported brightness.   The data on this page comes from CBET and ATEL circulars.   Data also comes from IAU‘s Transient Name Server web page.   These web pages have brought you the latest in supernovae data and images since April 1997.   18 years and counting.

Web page last modified on 06/23/2016 10:05:32 .   For yesterday’s updates, go to the updates page.

News: 2016adj is a Type IIb in NGC 5128 (= Centarus A).   Please note my new e-mail address: dbishopx at gmail.com.  Dan Green via the TOCP no longer will be officially naming supernovae.   The IAU‘s Transient Name Server is now the official way to post your discoveries.   This is the Open supernova Catalog.   Big problems with http://www.RochesterAstronomy.org/snimages. Be sure to do a “refresh” or remove your cache if you do not see recent data.   Please check the mirror site: Padova-Asiago Supernova Group for the latest spectra.   A new paper throws some cold water on the Type Ia standard candle theory, making accurate light curves of these objects even more important (article).   For the year 2016, 1777 supernovae (133 CBAT, 1365 unconfirmed, and 279 other sources) have been reported. (3412 last year)

New features: The Active supernovae page is a version of this page which is designed to be easier to read.   I’ve done extensive work recently in the Archives.   If anybody knows who some of the “unknown” discoverers are, please let me know.   Does anybody know of a grant that I could apply to for supporting this page? I probably spend about 2 hours a night working on it.   Please note my backup e-mail address: dbishopx at gmail.com .  To turn off the icons, use this link.   I am (re)starting a supernova e-mail list.   Please sign up if interested.   VSNet is partially back up!   LOSS ask people who discover supernovae to provide an offset from a nearby star to make spectroscopy easier.

Some groups are not reporting all of their discoveries to CBAT.