NGC 1559 is barred spiral galaxy located about 50 million ly away in the southern constellation Reticulum. This galaxy is relatively small, about 7 times smaller than our Milky Way. It is a Seyfert galaxy, characterized by a bright nucleus that radiates strongly in blue and ultraviolet. The image shows supernova 2005df, discovered by Robert Evans 04/08/2005. It is a type Ia supernova, caused by a massive giant star spilling its matter unto a tiny white dwarf in a binary system. Ultimately the dwarf star reaches a critical mass and become instable, finally exploding as a supernova, sometimes outshining the entire host galaxy. Thie image was taken when the supernova had dimmed considerably.

OPTICS 10" Newtonian f/5.2
MOUNT Losmandy G11 equatorial
CAMERA Philips ToUCam Pro SC1 webcam
FILTERS None
EXPOSURE 37 x 120
DATE/TIME 30/11/2005 13:02 UTC
LOCATION My backyard observatory in west Auckland, New Zealand