SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Georgii Konkov
Location of Photo:
Williamsburg, VA
Date/Time of photo:
Multiple nights in March and April + May 21, 2023
Equipment:
Sky-Watcher 150PDS, ZWO 2600MC Pro, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Description:
The supernova 2023ixf was discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki just a few days ago, and it's a rare event. Although for us it appears as a bright star, it is essentially an explosion of a star that occurs at the end of its life. This event is so powerful that it can outshine an entire galaxy, making supernovae among the most energetic events in the Universe. This particular supernova, named 2023ixf, is classified as a Type II supernova. This means it originated from a massive star with at least eight times the mass of our Sun. The star explosion happened in the Pinwheel Galaxy that lies approximately 21 million light-years away. The image you see here is the result of stacking several images, including ones taken both before and after the discovery of 2023ixf, all taken with my trusty Sky-Watcher 150PDS and ZWO ASI 2600MC camera.
