SN 2005gl was a supernova in the

barred-spiral galaxy A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies, and generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies ...

NGC 266 NGC 266 is a massive barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. NGC 266 is located at a distance of from the Milky Way. It was discovered on September 12, 1784, by William Herschel. The form of this barred galaxy is described by its mor ...

. It was discovered using CCD frames taken October 5, 2005, from the 60 cm automated telescope at the

Puckett Observatory Puckett Observatory is a private astronomical observatory located in the state of Georgia. It is owned and operated by Tim Puckett. Its primary observation goals are the study of comets and the discovery of supernovae. To facilitate the latter g ...

in Georgia, US, and reported by Tim Puckett in collaboration with Peter Ceravolo. It was independently identified by Yasuo Sano in Japan. The supernova was located 29.8″ east and 16.7″ north of the galactic core. Based upon its spectrum, this was classified as a

Type IIn A Type II supernova (plural: ''supernovae'' or ''supernovas'') results from the rapid collapse and violent explosion of a massive star. A star must have at least 8 times, but no more than 40 to 50 times, the mass of the Sun () to undergo this ...

core-collapse supernova. It has a

redshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in f ...

of ''z'' = 0.016, which is the same as the host galaxy. Using archived images from the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ver ...

, a candidate progenitor star was identified. This is believed to have been a

luminous blue variable Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are massive evolved stars that show unpredictable and sometimes dramatic variations in their spectra and brightness. They are also known as S Doradus variables after S Doradus, one of the brightest stars of the Larg ...

(LBV), similar to

Eta Carinae Eta Carinae (η Carinae, abbreviated to η Car), formerly known as Eta Argus, is a stellar system containing at least two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, located around distant in th ...

, with an

absolute magnitude Absolute magnitude () is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse logarithmic astronomical magnitude scale. An object's absolute magnitude is defined to be equal to the apparent magnitude that the object would have if it we ...

of −10.3 and a surface temperature of about 13,000 K. There was a small probability that the source was instead located in a compact cluster of stars, but the association with the LBV has since been reliably established.

References

External links

Light curves and spectra
on th
Open Supernova Catalog
* * {{cite news , author=Villard, Ray, author2=Gal-Yam, Avishay , title=Hubble Uncovers an Unusual Stellar Progenitor to a Supernova , publisher=Hubble News Center , date=2009-03-22 , url=http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/13/ , accessdate=2009-04-20 Supernovae Luminous blue variables Pisces (constellation)