Supernova 2011fe in M101

Supernova 2011fe was discovered on August 24, 2011 by Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and first designated PTF11kly, when it was very young at mag 17.2 and rapidly rising. From its spectrum, it was cassified as of very young type Ia. It had not been visible on August 22. As of August 31, it had rised to mag 11.3, and reached mag 9.9 on its peak which was reached around September 9 or 10, 2011. Until mid of December, it had shone brighter than mag 13.5, and to end of March 2012, to mag 15.6.

This is the closest supernova of type Ia to be observed since 1972. It may be significant for the gauging of the distance scale of the intergalactic universe as derived from this type of "Standard Candles."

.. more to come soon ..

SN 2011fe discovery announce (ATEL 3581), CBET announce (CBET 2792, Nugent et.al. 2011)
SN 2011fe resources (David Bishop)
SN 2011fe index of images etc. (David Bishop)
NOAO feature: Supernova SN2011fe in M101; Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) 4-meter Mayall image
Astronomical Picture of the Day (APOD): August 26, 2011
NED data for SN 2011fe
SIMBAD data for SN 2011fe
Publications on SN 2011fe (NASA ADS)
Messier Galaxies and their Supernovae and Supernovae in Messier Catalog Galaxies pages

References

P.E. Nugent, D.A. Howell, D. Bishop, E. Waagen, A. Marulla, A. Grenier, J. Rie, S. Howerton, R.A. Koff, R. Royer, K. Sarneczky, 2011. Supernova 2011fe in M101 = Psn J14030581+5416254. Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams, 2792, 1 (2011). Edited by D.W.E. Green. August 2011. [ADS: 2011CBET.2792....1N]

Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: February 6, 2012