The explosion of a massive star blazes with the light of 200 million Suns in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. The arrow at top right points to the stellar blast, called a supernova. The supernova is so bright in this image that it easily could be mistaken for a foreground star in our Milky Way Galaxy. And yet, this supernova, called SN 2004dj, resides far beyond our galaxy. Its home is in the outskirts of NGC 2403, a galaxy located 11 million light-years from Earth. Although the supernova is far from Earth, it is the closest stellar explosion discovered in more than a decade.
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A Bright Supernova in the Nearby Galaxy NGC 2403
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A Bright Supernova in the Nearby Galaxy NGC 2403
The explosion of a massive star blazes with the light of 200 million Suns in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. The arrow at top right points to the stellar blast, called a supernova. The supernova is so bright in this image that it easily could be mistaken for a foreground...

Galaxy NGC 2403: Before and After Supernova 2004dj Outburst
The image at left represents a small region of NGC 2403, a galaxy located 11 million light-years from Earth. The photo was taken two months before a massive star exploded. The image pinpoints the location of the stellar blast, known as supernova 2004dj, within a cluster of...

NGC 2403: Annotated Hubble View
This detailed view of spiral galaxy NGC 2403 shows the location of Supernova 2004dj, numerous star clusters, and several other stars that exploded in previous years. The region was observed with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys on Aug. 17, 2004.

NGC 2403: Ground-based and Hubble View
This composite image shows a ground-based image of NGC 2403 and the location of a 10,000 light-year-wide square region imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The area is host to Supernova 2004dj, the closest explosion of a massive star in over a...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov