Host Optical Cutout
0.26″/pix
Pan-STARRS1 DR1 Optical (0.25″/pix)
Core Parameters
| R.A. (J2000) | 14:03:38.562 (210.91068°) |
|---|---|
| Dec. (J2000) | +54:18:41.94 (54.31165°) |
| Spectral Type | II |
| Redshift (z) | 0.0008 |
| Recession Velocity | 239.7 km/s (redshift Doppler-equivalent) |
| Luminosity Distance | 3.54 Mpc (~11.2 Million Light-Years, μ = 27.68) |
| Peak Apparent Mag | 12.02 brightest multi-epoch detection (2023/06/23) |
| Peak Absolute Mag | -15.73 |
| MW Dust E(B-V) | 0.0077 mag derived from galactic coordinates (coordinate model), not a dust-map measurement |
| Host Galaxy | M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5457) |
| Host Offset | 264.2″ (PA 121°) (~4.38 kpc) |
| Observations | 110 detections, 5 spectra |
Interactive Sky Field (Aladin) ✨ DSS2 Optical (China-VO mirror)
🎯 14:03:38.562 +54:18:41.94
FOV: 0.15°
● SN2023ixf (II)
Coordinate Pointing & Airmass
Discovered 3.5 years ago (2023/05/19). Cataloged peak 2023/06/23 (1239d ago; rest-frame phase +1238.0d). Cataloged/observed peak: m = 12.02 on 2023/06/23. Latest observed: m = 19.61 on 2026/02/05 (MJD 61076.5). No reliable current brightness estimate — no event-specific brightness fit with documented uncertainty is published for this object. Class-average decay templates are not used as object-specific predictions. Latest observed magnitude: m = 19.61 on 2026/02/05 (MJD 61076.5). Current brightness trend is unknown (last observation 2026/02/05 (MJD 61076.5); same-band recent pair unavailable or stale). Use the window below to plan observations tonight.
Multi-Band Light Curve
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Calibrated Spectra Viewer
🌌 Cosmic Neighbors & Contemporaries
105,868+ transients indexed
Cataloged transients closest to SN2023ixf in discovery time, spatial sky neighborhood, and cosmological redshift:
⏱️ Closest in Time
SN2023iwy
Exploded same day
Type Ic-BL
2023/05/19
AT2023iwn
1d before
Type QSO
2023/05/18
SN2023iuc
1d before
Type Ibn
2023/05/18
Literature & Data Provenance
| ID | Source | Reference | NASA ADS Bibcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | Transient Name Server | — | |
| [2] | 2023TNSTR1158....1I | Koichi Itagaki | 2023TNSTR1158....1I |
| [3] | The Open Supernova Catalog | Guillochon et al. (2017) | 2017ApJ...835...64G |
| [4] | ALeRCE / ZTF | — | |
| [5] | WISeREP | Yaron & Gal-Yam (2012) | 2012PASP..124..668Y |
| [6] | Planck 2015 | Planck Collaboration (2016) | 2016A&A...594A..13P |
| [7] | Schlafly & Finkbeiner (2011) | Schlafly & Finkbeiner (2011) | 2011ApJ...737..103S |
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About SN2023ixf
Scientific & observational Q&As indexed from astronomical databases & the sne.space
What type of supernova is SN2023ixf and what kind of star exploded? Astrophysics & Progenitor
SN2023ixf is classified as a Type II supernova, consistent with core collapse of a massive star that retained hydrogen in its outer envelope. Typical progenitor mass ranges quoted for the class are model expectations, not a measured mass for this star.
What was the progenitor star doing in the millions of years leading up to SN2023ixf? Astrophysics & Progenitor
The specific progenitor of SN2023ixf has not been observed. Events of this spectroscopic class are generally associated with massive-star core collapse after successive nuclear burning stages (hydrogen → helium → carbon → neon → oxygen → silicon → iron). Typical lifetimes of such progenitors are tens of millions of years, but that is a class expectation—not a measured age or evolutionary track for this star. No pre-explosion imaging identification is cited in the available record for SN2023ixf.
How far away is SN2023ixf from Earth and how old is the light reaching us? Cosmic Distance & Time
SN2023ixf has a luminosity distance of approximately 11.5 Million Light-Years (redshift z = 0.0008, d_L = 3.54 Mpc). Under a flat ΛCDM cosmology (H₀≈70 km/s/Mpc, Ωₘ≈0.3), the corresponding lookback time is ≈11 Myr — when the light set out 11.2 million years ago during the Miocene epoch as mammalian lineages and grasslands flourished. Luminosity distance is larger than the light-travel distance because cosmic expansion stretches the path; the two must not be equated.
What does the cosmological redshift of SN2023ixf tell us about the expansion of space? Cosmic Distance & Time
SN2023ixf exhibits a measured spectroscopic redshift of z = 0.0008. The cockpit reports a user-facing recession velocity of 239.7 km/s, computed as the redshift Doppler-equivalent v = c·((1+z)²−1)/((1+z)²+1). Cosmological redshift is not generally equivalent to special-relativistic motion through space; this number is a convenient velocity label for z, not a measured peculiar velocity and not supernova ejecta speed. Bare c·z (≈240 km/s) is a different low-z approximation and is not mixed here.
How bright did SN2023ixf become at its peak, and how many Suns does that equal? Explosion Energetics
At peak brightness, SN2023ixf achieved an apparent magnitude of 12.02 around 2023/06/23. Corrected for cosmic distance and foreground interstellar dust, its intrinsic absolute magnitude was -15.73. At this peak, the exploding star radiated with the incandescent brilliance of approximately 167.5 million Suns combined, briefly outshining the cumulative starlight of entire dwarf galaxies!
How much total energy was released by SN2023ixf, and where did that energy go? Explosion Energetics
Core-collapse events of this broad class are often discussed with a ~10⁵³ erg gravitational binding energy of which ~99% may escape as neutrinos—again a class scale, not a measured budget for SN2023ixf.
How fast are the supernova ejecta and shockwave of SN2023ixf expanding through space? Explosion Energetics
No ejecta velocity is measured for SN2023ixf. Blast-wave speed is obtained from Doppler shifts of spectral absorption features (e.g. Si II λ6355 for Type Ia), not from cosmological redshift. Any recession velocity derived from z describes Hubble flow, not the explosion debris. Type II events typically show ejecta speeds of order ~8,500 km/s near maximum, but that class scale is not a measurement of SN2023ixf.
What powers the prolonged glow of SN2023ixf weeks and months after detonation? Radioactive Engine
Classified core-collapse light curves are often sustained after peak by radioactive ⁵⁶Ni → ⁵⁶Co → ⁵⁶Fe decay, with typical nickel yields of order 0.05–0.15 solar masses—again a class scale, not a measured yield for SN2023ixf. Shock-breakout heating may dominate the earliest optical flash; without a published bolometric fit, neither nickel mass nor the dominant power source is established for this event.
What chemical elements did SN2023ixf create and disperse into the universe? Nucleosynthesis & Elements
Events of SN2023ixf's broad spectroscopic class are discussed in galactic chemical evolution as sources of oxygen-group and intermediate-mass elements (and, for some channels, iron-peak material). No measured elemental yields are published for SN2023ixf.
Did SN2023ixf leave behind a black hole, a neutron star, or nothing at all? Cosmic Remnant
A core-collapse explosion associated with SN2023ixf's class forges an ultra-dense compact stellar remnant at the center of the detonation. If the progenitor had an initial mass under ~20 solar masses, it left behind a neutron star (pulsar)—packing the mass of our entire Sun into a city-sized sphere barely 20 kilometers wide, spinning dozens or hundreds of times per second. If the progenitor exceeded ~25–30 solar masses, gravity overcame neutron degeneracy pressure, creating a permanent stellar-mass black hole.
What will SN2023ixf's explosion site look like in 1,000 to 10,000 years? Cosmic Remnant
Supernova remnants in general evolve through free-expansion, Sedov–Taylor, and radiative phases over centuries to millennia, sometimes becoming bright X-ray shells and occasionally compressing nearby molecular clouds. These are standard remnant-evolution models, not forecasts measured for SN2023ixf. Whether this site will trigger star formation, reach particular X-ray temperatures, or match Cassiopeia A depends on local density and magnetic field—none of which are constrained by the data shown here.
In which galaxy did SN2023ixf explode, and where is it located relative to the galactic center? Galactic Environment
SN2023ixf is associated with cataloged host M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5457) at an angular/physical offset of 264.2″ (PA 121°) (~4.38 kpc) from the reported galactic center. That offset places the transient in the host's projected light distribution; it does not by itself prove which stellar population produced the progenitor.
Where is SN2023ixf located in the night sky and which constellation is it in? Sky Coordinates
In the celestial sphere, SN2023ixf is located at Right Ascension 14:03:38.562 and Declination +54:18:41.94, situated in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). Because its declination is +54:18:41.94, it is primarily placed in the Northern celestial hemisphere.
How much Milky Way interstellar dust obscures our view of SN2023ixf? Interstellar Dust
Along this line of sight, the catalog records a Milky Way foreground color excess of E(B−V) = 0.0077 mag (source: 7), corresponding to roughly A_V ≈ 0.02 mag for R_V = 3.1. Band-specific corrections (e.g. A_r) differ from A_V and should be applied when available. Map-based values (IRSA / Schlafly & Finkbeiner 2011) must not be claimed unless that map was actually queried.
Across which photometric filter bands was SN2023ixf monitored? Astronomical Observations
SN2023ixf was tracked across 110 photometric observations across a baseline of 993.2 days utilizing filter bands including
Clear, g, r. Data were captured by observatories and survey networks including ZTF. Multi-color photometry tracks the temperature evolution of the fireball, verifying the rise time to peak and the rate of radioactive decline.What did astronomical spectroscopy reveal about SN2023ixf's chemical makeup? Astronomical Observations
Astronomers obtained 5 spectroscopic epochs for SN2023ixf from 3500.0 Å to 9670.5 Å by facilities including Bok, LT, MMT. Optical spectroscopy provides the definitive physical fingerprint of the transient: P-Cygni line profiles reveal the expansion speed of the ejecta, while characteristic absorption features (such as hydrogen Balmer lines Hα/Hβ in Type II, or Si II λ6355 in Type Ia) identify the stellar composition and physical mechanism of the explosion.
Who discovered SN2023ixf and how was it first detected? Discovery & History
SN2023ixf was officially reported on 2023/05/19 by Koichi Itagaki. Discoveries are typically flagged by high-cadence robotic survey telescopes (such as ATLAS, ZTF, Pan-STARRS, ASAS-SN, or Gaia) and worldwide amateur astronomers scanning the night sky, followed by rapid spectroscopic classification by international observatories.
How many scientific publications and observatories have contributed data to SN2023ixf? Scientific Research
SN2023ixf is documented across 7 scientific references and archival data sources in the sne.space. These include discovery circulars and research datasets from Transient Name Server, 2023TNSTR1158....1I, The Open Supernova Catalog, ALeRCE / ZTF. All raw photometry and spectroscopy points are cross-indexed to their original bibliographic records for peer-reviewed verification.
What other names and survey identifiers exist for SN2023ixf? Cross-Identifications
Throughout global alert streams and survey databases, SN2023ixf has also been designated as:
2023ixf, PS23dij, AT2023ixf, ATLAS23ncx, SN 2023ixf, ZTF23aaklqou, MASTER OT J140338.55+541840.8, MASTER OT J140338.60+541842.0. These cross-matched identifiers allow astronomers to cross-reference observations across the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), Pan-STARRS, Gaia Photometric Science Alerts, and the IAU Transient Name Server (TNS).How does SN2023ixf contribute to measuring the Hubble Constant and the scale of the cosmos? Cosmology & Distance Ladder
As a core-collapse supernova, SN2023ixf provides independent cosmological distance calibrations via the Expanding Photosphere Method (EPM) and the Standard Candle Method for Type II supernovae (SCM-II). By correlating the physical expansion speed of the photosphere (measured via spectroscopic Doppler shifts) with its photometric color temperature, astronomers determine direct geometric distances independent of secondary distance ladders.
Could gravitational waves or neutrinos from SN2023ixf be detected on Earth? Multi-Messenger Astronomy
Core-collapse supernovae like SN2023ixf are premier targets for multi-messenger astrophysics! During the collapse of the iron core, an intense burst of 10⁵⁸ neutrinos escaped into space hours before the shock broke out through the stellar surface (as famously seen in SN 1987A). Furthermore, violent core asymmetries and non-axisymmetric core bounce can emit high-frequency gravitational waves detectable by advanced interferometers (LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA) for events within the Milky Way and Local Group.
How does SN2023ixf compare to famous historical supernovae like SN 1987A or the Crab Supernova? Historical Comparison
Compared to historical landmarks like SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud (168,000 light-years away, naked-eye peak m = 2.9) or the Crab Supernova of 1054 (6,500 light-years away), SN2023ixf occurred at a distance of 11.5 Million Light-Years. While historical naked-eye supernovae occurred within our Milky Way or its immediate satellites, modern discoveries like SN2023ixf allow astrophysicists to probe diverse galactic environments, metallicities, and stellar populations across the broader universe.
Can I see SN2023ixf tonight with a backyard telescope or binoculars? Backyard Observation
Unknown — no measured brightness. SN2023ixf was discovered 1274 days ago (2023/05/19), but no calibrated photometry is published for it, so its current apparent magnitude cannot be stated. Without a magnitude there is no basis for a telescope-aperture recommendation. Use the coordinates and airmass chart above to plan a follow-up observation and report what you measure.
Does the radiation or shockwave from SN2023ixf pose any threat to Earth? Planetary Safety
No, Earth is in zero danger. Supernovae are violent events emitting powerful gamma rays, X-rays, and cosmic rays; however, the astrophysical 'lethal kill zone' for our planet's protective ozone layer is estimated at 50 to 100 light-years. At a distance of 11.5 Million Light-Years, the inverse-square law dilutes the radiation by quintillions of times, making SN2023ixf completely harmless to our biosphere and purely a fascinating spectacle for human exploration.
Data sourced from IAU TNS, ALeRCE, WISeREP, and the sne.space.
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