High-magnification deep optical view into SN2024fke's host environment. Pan and scroll to explore the cosmic neighborhood where this star exploded.
⚡ Quick Observer Facts & Telemetry
IAU Transients DBA Type Ia Thermonuclear Explosion
On 2024/04/02, astronomers scanning the heavens flagged a sudden, violent pinpoint of light that had flared into visibility. Designated SN2024fke, it represents a catastrophic stellar explosion classified as a Type Ia supernova.
SN2024fke is spectroscopically classified as Type Ia, consistent with a thermonuclear white-dwarf explosion in an unidentified host environment. Competing progenitor channels (single-degenerate accretion, double-degenerate merger, sub-Chandrasekhar detonations) remain open; an individual accretion history toward the Chandrasekhar mass is not established for this event.
A Message Across Deep Cosmic Time
SN2024fke has a luminosity distance of approximately 594.4 Million Light-Years
(redshift z = 0.04).
That figure is not the light-travel time: under flat ΛCDM the lookback time is ≈543 Myr, when the light set out 542.9 million years ago during the Neoproterozoic, hundreds of millions of years before complex animal life diversified.
Luminosity distance incorporates cosmic expansion and exceeds the light-travel distance. The two quantities must be reported separately.
Incandescence of 5.3 billion Suns
At the height of the outburst around 2024/04/19, SN2024fke surged to a peak apparent magnitude of 16.78 and an intrinsic absolute magnitude of -19.49. At that instant, this single dying star radiated with the collective power of approximately 5.3 billion Suns combined, outshining whole dwarf galaxies.
The total energy released by the cataclysm was on the order of 10⁵¹ to 10⁵³ ergs. Virtually all of this was deposited into the kinetic shockwave and radioactive nucleosynthesis.
The Radioactive Furnace: Why Supernovae Glow for Months
After peak, many supernovae are powered by the radioactive chain ⁵⁶Ni → ⁵⁶Co → ⁵⁶Fe. That is the standard model for Type Ia light curves; an object-specific nickel mass for SN2024fke is not published here.
Nickel-56 decays to Cobalt-56 (half-life ≈6.1 days), then to stable Iron-56 (half-life ≈77.2 days), heating the ejecta from within. Typical class yields must not be quoted as measured values for this event.
Cosmic Kiln: Seeding the Elements of Life
Supernovae enrich galaxies with heavy elements. Events of SN2024fke's class are associated with iron-peak and intermediate-mass products (Ni/Fe, Si, S, Ca) in galactic chemical-evolution models. No measured elemental yields are published for SN2024fke.
As Carl Sagan observed, "We are made of star-stuff" — a statement about nucleosynthesis in general, not a claim that atoms from this specific remnant are identified in the Solar System.
Galactic Setting in Leo Minor
No host galaxy is identified for SN2024fke in this catalog record
.
In our terrestrial sky, it resides in the constellation Leo Minor (The Lesser Lion) at Right Ascension 09:57:33.390
and Declination +35:48:57.11.
The Scientific Surveillance Campaign
Following its discovery by J. Tonry, L. Denneau, H. Weiland, A. Lawrence, R. Siverd (IfA, University of Hawaii), N. Erasmus, W. Koorts (South African Astronomical Observatory), A. Jordan, V. Suc (UAI, Obstech), S. J. Smartt (Oxford/QUB), K. W. Smith, D. R. Young, M. Nicholl, M. Fulton, M. McCollum, T. Moore, J. Weston, X. Sheng, P. Ramsden, C. R. Angus (Queen's University Belfast), A. Aamer (QUB/Birmingham), L. Shingles (GSI/QUB), S. Srivastav, J. Gillanders, L. Rhodes, A. Andersson, H. Stevance (Oxford), A. Rest (STScI), T.-W. Chen (NCU), C. Stubbs (Harvard), J. Sommer (LMU/QUB), observatories worldwide swung their lenses toward SN2024fke.
In the Open Supernova Catalog, SN2024fke is documented across 30 photometric measurements
in passbands such as g, i, r and 0 spectroscopic epochs.
These multi-wavelength observations allow astrophysicists to model the expanding photosphere, measure shock velocities, and probe circumstellar interactions.
Stargazer's Field Guide: Can You See It Tonight?
Can I see it tonight? No reliable current brightness estimate.
Discovered 945 days ago (2024/04/02). Cataloged peak 2024/04/19 (928d ago; rest-frame phase +892.3d). Cataloged/observed peak: m = 16.78 on 2024/04/19. Latest observed: m = 18.14 on 2024/05/22 (MJD 60452.2).
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 = 18.14 on 2024/05/22 (MJD 60452.2). Published upper limits (nondetections) exist in the photometry record. Current brightness trend is unknown (last observation 2024/05/22 (MJD 60452.2); same-band recent pair unavailable or stale).
| Instrument Class & Aperture | Sensitivity Limit | Cataloged Peak (m=16.78 on 2024/04/19) | Current Brightness Tonight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naked Eye Dark sky site (Bortle 1–3) with no optical aid | m ≤ 6.0 | Requires larger aperture (limit m ≤ 6.0) | No reliable estimate |
| Binoculars (50mm) Standard 7x50 or 10x50 handheld binoculars | m ≤ 9.5 | Requires larger aperture (limit m ≤ 9.5) | No reliable estimate |
| Small Backyard Scope (4" / 100mm) Entry 4-inch (100mm) refractor / reflector | m ≤ 12.0 | Requires larger aperture (limit m ≤ 12.0) | No reliable estimate |
| Medium Amateur Scope (8"–12") 8-inch to 12-inch Dobsonian or Schmidt-Cassegrain | m ≤ 14.5 | Requires larger aperture (limit m ≤ 14.5) | No reliable estimate |
| Amateur CMOS Rig Cooled monochrome/color CMOS camera with multi-hour stack | m ≤ 19.5 | ✅ Reachable | No reliable estimate |
| 2m–3m Research Telescope University or regional observatory (e.g. Palomar 60", Calar Alto) | m ≤ 22.0 | ✅ Reachable | No reliable estimate |
| Giant 8m–10m Observatories Keck (10m), VLT (8.2m), Gemini, Subaru optical imaging | m ≤ 25.0 | ✅ Reachable | No reliable estimate |
| Space Observatories Only Hubble Space Telescope (WFC3) / JWST (NIRCam deep stack) | m ≤ 30.0 | ✅ Reachable | No reliable estimate |
Planetary Safety Note: Even though SN2024fke was a titanic explosion, our planet sits safely outside the lethal 50–100 light-year kill zone. At a distance of 594.4 Million Light-Years, the blast poses zero physical hazard to Earth's biosphere.
Cataloged transients closest to SN2024fke in discovery time, spatial sky neighborhood, and cosmological redshift:
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About SN2024fke
What type of supernova is SN2024fke and what kind of star exploded? Astrophysics & Progenitor
What was the progenitor star doing in the millions of years leading up to SN2024fke? Astrophysics & Progenitor
How far away is SN2024fke from Earth and how old is the light reaching us? Cosmic Distance & Time
What does the cosmological redshift of SN2024fke tell us about the expansion of space? Cosmic Distance & Time
How bright did SN2024fke become at its peak, and how many Suns does that equal? Explosion Energetics
How much total energy was released by SN2024fke, and where did that energy go? Explosion Energetics
How fast are the supernova ejecta and shockwave of SN2024fke expanding through space? Explosion Energetics
What powers the prolonged glow of SN2024fke weeks and months after detonation? Radioactive Engine
What chemical elements did SN2024fke create and disperse into the universe? Nucleosynthesis & Elements
Did SN2024fke leave behind a black hole, a neutron star, or nothing at all? Cosmic Remnant
What will SN2024fke's explosion site look like in 1,000 to 10,000 years? Cosmic Remnant
In which galaxy did SN2024fke explode, and where is it located relative to the galactic center? Galactic Environment
Where is SN2024fke located in the night sky and which constellation is it in? Sky Coordinates
How much Milky Way interstellar dust obscures our view of SN2024fke? Interstellar Dust
Across which photometric filter bands was SN2024fke monitored? Astronomical Observations
g, i, 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 SN2024fke's chemical makeup? Astronomical Observations
Who discovered SN2024fke and how was it first detected? Discovery & History
How many scientific publications and observatories have contributed data to SN2024fke? Scientific Research
What other names and survey identifiers exist for SN2024fke? Cross-Identifications
2024fke, PS24cpm, AT2024fke, ATLAS24eul, SN 2024fke, ZTF24aaidlza. 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).