Supernova in the Cigar Galaxy

This bright supernova in Messier 82 (the "Cigar Galaxy") was first noticed a few days before this image was taken. In this image, the supernova was about magnitude 11, making it, at least for a few days, the single brightest object in the galaxy, some 12 million light years away.

I was able to capture this image early in the evening just before clouds started to roll in.

Image details:  Exposure times of 24 minutes luminance and 18 minutes each of red, green and blue, taken with an SBIG ST-8300M imager and a 12" Meade telescope at f/5.6.

January 24, 2014