Supernova 1999ac in Spiral Galaxy NGC 6063

The following is the data on Supernova 1999ac:

Discovered: February 26th, 1999, by Lick Observatory Supernova Search team.

• Magnitude 15.0 at discovery
• Type Ia peculiar

From IAU Bulletin 7122 (3/6/99):

Spectra obtained by M. M. Phillips and W. Kunkel of Las Campanas Observatory...... shows this to be a peculiar..... type-Ia event that has been caught near, or a few days before, maximum.

The Kopernik image above is nearly 4 months after discovery and the supernova is around 16th magnitude.

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 6063:

Although NGC 6063 is classified as 'Spiral, uncertain', more recent observations seem to confirm that it is a spiral galaxy and perhaps has a short bar.

Dreyer's description from the New General Catalog(NGC): Faint, pretty large, round, very little brighter middle.

Based on the published red shift, a rough distance estimate for NGC 6063 and supernova 1999ac is: 150 million light years, with the galaxy being 74,000 light years in diameter.

• Magnitude: 13.8
• RA: 16h 07m 13.6s
• Dec: +07° 58' 42" Epoch 2000
• Size (mins) 1.7' x 0.8'
• Constellation: Serpens
• Classification: Scd:
• Spiral Galaxy, {uncertain}

Click below to

George Normandin, KAS

June 21st, 1999