SN 2023ixf
Supernova 2023ixf as seen on 20 May 2023 | |
| Type II Supernova | |
| Date | 19 May 2023, 17:27 UTC by Kōichi Itagaki |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ursa Major |
| Right ascension | 14h 03m 38.562s |
| Declination | +54° 18′ 41.94″ |
| Epoch | J2000 |
| Distance | c. 21 million ly |
| Host | Pinwheel Galaxy |
| Progenitor | Supergiant (M=–4.66) |
| Peak apparent magnitude | 10.8 (on 22 May 2023) |
| Related media on Commons | |
SN 2023ixf was a Type II-L (core collapse) supernova located 21 million light years away from Earth in the Pinwheel Galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. It was one of the brightest core collapse supernova to have occurred in the 21st century with an energy output of (0.3–1.4)×1051 ergs. Before becoming a supernova, the progenitor star is believed to have been a supergiant with an absolute magnitude in the near-infrared (814nm) of MF814W = –4.66. It is expected that SN 2023ixf has left behind either a neutron star or black hole based on current stellar evolution models.
The supernova is located near a prominent HII region, NGC 5461, in an outer spiral arm of the bright galaxy Messier 101.
The supernova ejecta produced during the nebular phase contained <solar masses of the element oxygen, travelling at a speed of 2,250 kilometers per second which is consistent with models of a lower mass progenitor red supergiant star. The luminosity was powered by an estimated 0.049 solar masses of the isotope nickel-56. Its spectral lines had broad calcium profiles which dominated later stages of the nebular phase and a broad but complex multi-peaked hydrogen profile. The ejected hydrogen showed high velocity (6,000 kilometers per second) emission features which may be evidence of interaction with a dense region of hydrogen located at an extended distance.