David Aguilar
(617) 495-7462

Christine Pulliam
(617) 495-7463

pubaffairs@cfa


Press Release

Release No.: 2012-05For Release: Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Explosive Stars with Good Table Manners
M101
These images from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) show the nearby spiral galaxy M101 before and after the appearance of SN 2011fe (circled, right), which was discovered on Aug. 24, 2011. At a distance of 21 million light-years, it was the nearest Type Ia supernova since 1986. Left: View constructed from images taken in March and April 2007. Right: The supernova was so bright that most UVOT exposures were short, so this view includes imagery from August through November 2011 to better show the galaxy.
Credit: NASA/Swift/Peter Brown, Univ. of Utah
High Resolution Image (jpg)
Low Resolution Image (jpg)
Back to Press Release
Section Photo