SN 2023pxl  was discovered on 23 July 2024 and it is a type Ia supernova  at about 77 million light years, in the host galaxy, NGC 6384.  Supernovae are powerful explosions marking the end of certain stars' lives, often outshining entire galaxies. Among the various types, Type Ia, or thermonuclear supernovae, occur not from the collapse of a massive star's core but within binary star systems. Here, one star is a white dwarf, and the other is usually a low-mass star like our Sun or a red giant.

White dwarfs, despite their small size, are incredibly dense with intense gravity that pulls in material from their companion star, a process known as accretion. As the white dwarf accumulates mass, its electron degeneracy pressure—where electrons repel each other—prevents it from collapsing. However, if the white dwarf's mass exceeds 1.44 times that of the Sun, known as the Chandrasekhar limit, it can no longer resist collapsing, leading to a Type Ia supernova that completely destroys the star.

Type Ia supernovae are among the brightest events in the universe and are consistent in their brightness due to the fixed mass at which they explode. This makes them "standard candles," used to measure distances in space, which has been crucial in proving the universe's expansion and acceleration.

Object: Supernova SN 2024pxl in NGC 6384

Current Magnitude 15.7 based on details here

Location: Portsmouth, UK

Mount: Alt Az

Bortle Scale: 7

Nights:       9th-12th August 2024 

Total Subs Used: 1136 x 10 Subs

Seeing:  Clear

Fits Stacked: Siril

Post-Processing Steps

1. GraXpert - Background extraction and Denoise v2.0 

2. Siril - colour calibration, photometric colour calibration, removing green noise, colour calibration, histogram stretch, colour saturation.