Galaxies are immense celestial bodies that most of the time go unnoticed by the billions that exist in the universe. However, recently a pinwheel galaxy named Messier 101 or M101 has attracted the attention of the entire world, since it has registered a stellar explosion known as a supernova.
This unique stellar event for astronomy was discovered on May 19 by the 75-year-old Japanese amateur astronomer, Koichi Itagaki, who reported the presence of a bright spot on the galaxy messier 101, which he believed was a supernova.
As indicated by Itagaki’s statements, the observed object was confirmed as a Type II supernova which was given the name of SN 2023ixf.
This supernova is the closest to Earth that has been identified in the last five years and the second closest identified in the last 10 years.
After this fact that has inspired various astronomical research centers, many Internet users have the doubt if this phenomenon has any real repercussions for the Earth.
Although supernovae are the largest explosions that can be observed in the universe Messier 101’s supernova SN 2023ixf is 21 million light-years away and therefore It does not represent a danger to the planet.
Messier 101 is an easy galaxy to find in the night sky, as it can be located by finding the first star Eta in the handle of the asterism in the constellation Ursa Major.
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