During the last few days, astronomers have been pointing their telescopes toward a familiar celestial object in our spring night sky for a look at a rare event: A new supernova — a star that has literally, and figuratively, "burst" upon the scene.
This new supernova has appeared in a galaxy — a star city — beyond our own. The galaxy is known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, (also designated as Messier 101, or M101) and is a large, loosely wound, spread-out, open-faced spiral galaxy which can be viewed through a small telescope with the proviso if the sky is dark enough. You would need a wide-field of view and a low-power eyepiece to positively see it.
