CCD Image taken on April 11th, 1999, UT 3:11, using an SBIG ST-6 thru Kopernik's 20 inch F/8.1 telescope. The field of view is about 5x7 arc minutes; exposure = 8.3 minutes.
From IAU Bulletin 7108 (2/12/99):
....... spectra obtained on Feb. 12 UT with the Lick Observatory 3-meter Shane reflector show that SN 1999aa is a peculiar type-Ia supernova, very similar to SN 1991T. ......Overall, the spectrum suggests an age of about 6 days before maximum brightness..
Follow this Link to a NASA Web site on supernovas. It has a very nice animation and a description of what these objects are.
This is the data on Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2595 itself:
NGC 2595 is a barred spiral galaxy with prominent and bright nucleus and distorted outer regions which include an inner ring structure. There are no other galaxies nearby. However, note that the faint anonymous galaxy on the right side of our CCD image.
Dreyer's description from the New General Catalog(NGC): Very faint, pretty large, irregular figure, round, double star southwest 2 arc minutes.
Based on the published red shift, a rough distance estimate for NGC 2595 and supernova 1999aa is: 228,000,000 light years, with the galaxy being 159,000 light years in diameter. Considering that the other stars in the image are no more than a few thousand light years at the most, it is possible to see the tremendous amount of energy released by this event.
Click below to
George Normandin, KAS
April 13th, 1999