Supernova 2001bq:
Discovered May 17th, 2001, by K. Itagaki, Sumoto, Japan.
T. Matheson, et al, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, reported that a spectrum taken with the Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope shows an expansion velocity for this supernova of 9,200 km/s.
Follow this Link to a NASA Web site on supernovas. It has a very nice animation and a description of what these objects are.
Spiral Galaxy NGC 5534, companion, merging pair:
Quote from Dreyer's New General Catalog (NGC):
"Pretty faint, stars involved, 12th magnitude star northwest."
This pair of galaxies in Virgo may be in the process of merger. Strong H{alpha} emission is in the central region, and there are emission regions at the western side of the galaxy. The companion galaxy is located at the eastern side and also shows H{alpha} emission. This galaxy and supernova 2001bq are roughly at a distance of 138 million light years. The diameter of NGC 5534 is 56,400 light years.
Click below to
George Normandin, KAS
June 13th, 2001