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The subject of this NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope\u00a0Picture of the Week\u00a0is the\u00a0spiral galaxy\u00a0NGC 337, located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale).<\/p>\n
This image combines observations made at two wavelengths, highlighting the galaxy\u2019s golden centre and blue outskirts. The golden central glow comes from older\u00a0stars, while the sparkling blue edges get their colour from young stars. If Hubble had observed NGC 337 about a decade ago, the telescope would have spotted something remarkable among the hot blue stars along the galaxy\u2019s edge: a brilliant\u00a0supernova.<\/p>\n
The supernova, named SN 2014cx, is remarkable for having been discovered nearly simultaneously in two vastly different ways: by a prolific supernova hunter, Koichi Itagaki, and by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN). ASAS-SN is a worldwide network of robotic telescopes that scans the sky for sudden events like supernovae.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Researchers have determined that SN 2014cx was a Type IIP supernova. The \u201cType II\u201d classification means that the exploding star was a supergiant at least eight times as massive as the Sun. The \u201cP\u201d stands for \u201cplateau\u201d, meaning that after the light from the supernova began to fade, the brightness reached a plateau, remaining at the same brightness for several weeks or months before fading further. This type of supernova occurs when a massive star can no longer produce enough energy in its core to stave off the crushing pressure of gravity. SN 2014cx\u2019s progenitor star is estimated to have been ten times more massive than the Sun and hundreds of times as wide. Though it has long since dimmed from its initial brilliance, researchers are still keeping tabs on this exploded star, not least through the Hubble observing programme which produced this image.<\/p>\n
[Image Description:<\/i>\u00a0A barred spiral galaxy on a dark background. The galaxy\u2019s central region is a pale colour due to older stars, contains some pale reddish threads of dust, and is brighter along a broad horizontal bar through the very centre. Off of the bar come several stubby spiral arms, merging into the outer region of the disc. It is a cool blue colour and contains some bright sparkling blue spots, both indicating young hot stars.]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n