I randomly picked a target last month, Messier 101 to image over a couple of days. What a lucky pick! I caught a super nova in it’s infancy that started over 21 million years ago and I caught some of it with the T3i and the C8 at 1565mm focal length.
Now isn’t that the bomb, literally! I’m processing it now, and I have the location of the star that went super nova. At the time, the magnitude of the explosion was 14.9, and I caught a smudge where the star is or was. I have over 11 hours of data in 300 second subs.
Magnitude estimates are now at 11.4, well within the C8’s limiting magnitude of 14. I hope to be out with the SV405CC the next clear sky to gain some more data on the phenomena. It rises in the north east and sets in the north west, I should be able to get at least a couple of hours each night if there’s any clear skies. Tomorrow night 05/22/23, is shaping up to be a good night as long as the forecast holds.