Image List

The football-shaped elliptical galaxy near the center of this image hosted a surprising supernova last year. PS1-12sk, the yellow dot at image center, is classified as a very rare Type Ibn supernova - only the sixth such example found out of thousands of supernovae. A Type Ibn supernova is thought to come from the explosion of a young, massive star. However, the site of the explosion shows no signs of recent star formation, and a supernova from a massive star has never before been seen in a galaxy of this type.

PS1-12sk, the yellow dot at image center (circled), is classified as a very rare Type Ibn supernova - only the sixth such example found out of thousands of supernovae. It was discovered on the outskirts of a bright elliptical galaxy (the yellow blob to the upper left of the supernova) located about 780 million light-years from Earth. A Type Ibn supernova is thought to come from the explosion of a young, massive star. However, the site of the explosion shows no signs of recent star formation, and a supernova from a massive star has never before been seen in a galaxy of this type.