"Stunning Supernova Captured by Massive Telescope and Visible from Home"

The Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano has captured a stunning image of the closest supernova seen in the past five years, SN 2023ixf, which appeared in the outskirts of the Pinwheel galaxy on May 19, 2023. The supernova is a type II, triggered by the release of energy from a massive supergiant star that pushed its layers into space, leaving behind a collapsed core—a neutron star. The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major, around 21 million light-years distant.