Supernova in NGC 7331

On the 1st September 2026 a new supernova was discovered in the spiral galaxy NGC 7331 in Pegasus and was designated SN 2026aaiv. At discovery, this Type Ia supernova was a faint 17th magnitude but by September 15th it had brightened a 100 times to about magnitude 12. On that evening the sky was clear and the moon was 3 days before first quarter and not interfering with observation. I thought I would have a go at seeing if I could image this faint object and the galaxy it is found in and this is what I obtained after 246x15s (1 hour 1.5 minutes) of observation with my Dwarf 3 smartscope:-

The first frame was taken at 21:55 BST and the last at 23:13. The astro filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). The galaxy NGC 7331 is seen in the centre of this image. Here is a crop of this image at the full resolution of the scope:-

The supernova can indeed be seen in this image and I have marked it with the green lines. It is quite close to the centre of the galaxy. What is amazing is that it looks to be as bright as the central core of NGC 7331 which contains millions of stars; so a single exploding star can rival the brightness of all these other stars put together. Type Ia supernovas occur in binary star systems where one of the stars is a white dwarf. When the dwarf has stolen enough material from its companion it undergoes a rapid runaway nuclear explosion which rips the stars apart. So much energy is produced that the explosion can be seen from great distances away (NGC 7331 is 47 million light-years distant).

NGC 7331 is also number 30 in Patrick Moore's Caldwell Catalogue. To the left of it are a number of smaller galaxies that are much further distant (300 to 350 million light years) and are collectively called the Deer Lick Group. I have labelled these objects in the same image below:-

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Western Veil Nebula (Caldwell 34)

September can bring some very nice calm-weather dark skies and last Sunday night (the 6th) was one of them. It was enough just to sit outside wrapped up in a blanket and admire the view. To get an idea of how dark the sky was I tried counting (by eye) the number of stars in the great square of Pegasus and came up with seven or eight which is not too bad. Whilst I was using my Dwarf 3 to do some imaging I contented myself by roaming round the sky with my 10x50 binoculars. A few things I found interesting. The first was that I had a really good view of the galaxy M33, which is becoming more prominent in our autumn skies now. I was surprised how bright it seemed in binoculars but it was impossible to see with the naked eye, even though I knew exactly where to look. I also had a go at viewing some double stars, something I have found difficult with bins on previous occasions. I had a look at beta Cygni which is at the head of the swan and a nice combination of blue and yellow stars (magnitudes 3.1 and 4.7). These I did manage to separate into their components which was excellent (they are 34 arc seconds apart). Another pair that I could separate was zeta Lyrae (magnitudes 4.3 and 5.9) which are 44 arc seconds apart. Very satisfying!

Back to the imaging. I chose this evening to have a go at the western part of the Veil Nebula. I have already imaged the eastern part. Here is what I obtained after 199x15s (49.75 minutes):-

The first frame was taken at 23:05 BST and the last at 00:19 on the 7th. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). There are patches of nebulosity in a lot of the frame to the left of the central bright star. The main bright patch in the centre of the field of view is the remnants of the supernova shock wave that is still traveling to the right in this frame. This part is called the Witch's Broom (or NGC 6960).

Here is a close-up of the nebula in the centre of the frame at the full resolution of the scope:-

The filamentary nature of this nebula can be seen very well in this image. It almost appears rope like. The bright star at the edge is 52 Cygni and is at a much closer distance to us. For a full description of how this nebula formed please have a look at my previous post.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

 

The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281)

Last Friday, the 4th September, we had some clear skies in the evening here in Neatishead and I was out making use of it with my Dwarf 3 smartscope. The moon was at last quarter and wouldn't rise until 22.29 BST. It now gets fully dark about 8.30pm BST. I decided I would have a go at the interestingly named Pacman Nebula in Cassiopeia and this is what I obtained after 350x15s (1 hour 27.5 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 22:12 BST and the last at 23:59. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up of the nebula in the centre of the frame at the full resolution of the scope:-

The nebula gets its name from its resemblance to the main character in the 1980s Pac-Man video game. The dark intrusion of gas and dust on the right looks like its mouth and the central bright star like an eye. This HII region of glowing gas is powered by IC1590 - the cluster of stars at the centre of this image. There are also several Bok Globules to be seen; these are small isolated darker areas of dust and gas that can be viewed against the brighter areas of nebula behind. They are often associated with areas where star formation is beginning to take place. The nebula lies at about 10,000 light years from us and close to the star alpha and eta Cassiopeiae on the sky.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026