On May 27, 2011 a relatively bright type IIb supernova (SN) occured in a nearby galaxy M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy, ~30 million light years distant). The Weizmann Institute of Science Martin S. Kraar Obervatory was one of the first observatories in the world to observe this SN soon after its discovery, contributing data relating to the early phases of this event.
Following is the image of M51 obtained one day after the supernova’s eruption. It was taken in monochrome through several different filters and combined into a single, color image. The supernova is circled:
