SN 2005ap

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SN 2005ap was an extremely energetic type II supernova. It is reported to be the brightest supernova yet recorded, twice as bright as the previous record holder, SN 2006gy. [1] It was discovered on 3 March 2005 by Robert Quimby as part of the Texas Supernova Survey that also discovered SN 2006gy. Although it was discovered before SN 2006gy it was not recognised as being brighter until recently. As it occurred 4.7 billion light years from Earth it was not visible to the naked eye.

Although SN 2005ap was twice as bright at its peak than SN 2006gy it was not as energetic overall as the former brightened and dimmed in a typical period of a few days whereas the latter remained very bright for many months. SN2005ap was about 300 times brighter than normal for a type II supernova.

[edit] External links

• New Scientist
• The Astrophysics journal Extract
• Supernova blazed like 100 billion suns