List of supernovae facts for kids
A supernova is a huge, powerful explosion of a star. It's one of the biggest explosions we know of in space! When a star runs out of fuel, it can collapse and then explode. This explosion makes the star shine brighter than an entire galaxy for a short time. These amazing events help create new elements and spread them across the universe.
This list talks about supernovae that people saw a long time ago, even before cameras existed. It also includes important supernovae that helped scientists learn more about these stellar explosions.
You can find more complete and updated lists of supernovae online. For example, the Open Supernova Catalog has lots of information. Recent supernovae include SN 2023ixf in the Pinwheel Galaxy (May 2023).
Famous Supernovae Through History
Here are some of the most famous supernovae. The "Apparent Magnitude" tells you how bright the supernova looked from Earth. A smaller number (or a negative number) means it was brighter! For example, -7.5 is much brighter than +5.
| Supernova Name (Year Seen) |
Constellation | Apparent Magnitude |
Distance (Light Years) |
Type | Galaxy | What Made It Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SN 185 | Centaurus | –4 (?) | 9,100 | Ia (?) | Milky Way | This supernova was seen by Chinese astronomers. Scientists think its leftover cloud is RCW 86. Some wonder if it was a comet instead. |
| SN 386 | Sagittarius | +1.5 | 14,700 | II | Milky Way | This event is thought to be a supernova, but it's not totally certain. |
| SN 393 | Scorpius | –0 | 3,400 | II/Ib | Milky Way | This was a possible supernova, but it might have been another type of star explosion. |
| SN 1006 | Lupus | –7.5 | 7,200 | Ia | Milky Way | This was the brightest star explosion ever recorded! People all over Earth saw it. |
| SN 1054 | Taurus | –6 | 6,500 | II | Milky Way | The leftover cloud from this supernova is the famous Crab Nebula. It also has a pulsar, which is a super-dense neutron star. |
| SN 1181 | Cassiopeia | 0 | 7,100 | sub-luminous Type Iax supernova | Milky Way | The leftover from this explosion is called Pa 30, with a very hot star at its center. |
| SN 1572 | Cassiopeia | –4.0 | 8,000 | Ia | Milky Way | This was studied by the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe. It's often called "Tycho's Nova." |
| Kepler's Supernova | Ophiuchus | –3 | 14,000 | Ia | Milky Way | This was the last supernova seen easily with the naked eye in our own Milky Way galaxy. It was studied by Johannes Kepler. |
| Cas A, c. 1680 |
Cassiopeia | +5 | 9,000 | IIb | Milky Way | This supernova was probably not very bright to the eye because of dust. But its leftover, Cas A, is the brightest radio source in the sky from outside our solar system. |
| G1.9+0.3, cal. 1868 |
Sagittarius | (hidden by dust) | 25,000 | Ia | Milky Way | This supernova was found much later in 1985, near the center of our galaxy. Its age was figured out in 2008. |
| SN 1885A | Andromeda | +5.85 | 2,500,000 | Ipec | Andromeda Galaxy | This was the first time anyone saw a supernova in another galaxy! |
| SN 1895B | Centaurus | +8.0 | 10,900,000 | Ia | NGC 5253 | |
| SN 1937C | Canes Venatici | +8.4 | 13,000,000 | Ia | IC 4182 | |
| SN 1939C | Cepheus | +13 | 25,200,000 | I | Fireworks Galaxy | |
| SN 1940B | Coma Berenices | +12.8 | 38,000,000 | II-P | NGC 4725 | |
| SN 1961V | Perseus | +12.5 | 30,000,000 | II? | NGC 1058 | This might have been a "supernova impostor," which is a star that looks like it's about to explode but doesn't fully. |
| SN 1972E | Centaurus | +8.7 | 10,900,000 | Ia | NGC 5253 | Scientists watched this supernova for over a year. It became a key example of a Type Ia supernova. |
| SN 1983N | Hydra | +11.8 | 15,000,000 | Ib | Messier 83 | This was the first time scientists saw a Type Ib supernova. |
| SN 1986J | Andromeda | +18.4 | 30,000,000 | IIn | NGC 891 | This supernova was very bright when observed with radio telescopes. |
| SN 1987A | Dorado | +2.9 | 160,000 | IIpec | Large Magellanic Cloud | This supernova was very important! Scientists had old photos of the star before it exploded. They also detected tiny particles called supernova neutrinos from it. It was the closest supernova seen in our "Local Group" of galaxies in a long time. |
| SN 1993J | Ursa Major | +10.7 | 11,000,000 | IIb | M81 | This was one of the brightest supernovae seen in the northern sky since 1954. |
| SN 1994D | Virgo | +15.2 | 50,000,000 | Ia | NGC 4526 | |
| SN 1998bw | Telescopium | ? | 140,000,000 | Ic | ESO 184-G82 | This was the first time a supernova was directly linked to a gamma-ray burst, which is a very powerful burst of energy. |
| SN 1999eh | Lynx | +18.3 +/- 0.3 | 84,000,000 | I | NGC 2770 | This was the first supernova found in this galaxy, which later had three more. |
| SN 2002bj | Lupus | +14.7 | 160,000,000 | IIn | NGC 1821 | This was a special type of outburst called an AM Canum Venaticorum-type. |
| SN 2003fg | Boötes | 4,000,000,000 | Ia | anonymous galaxy | This supernova is also known as the "Champagne supernova." | |
| SN 2004dj | Camelopardalis | 8,000,000 | II-P | NGC 2403 | NGC 2403 is a galaxy that is part of the M81 Group. | |
| SN 2005ap | Coma Berenices | 4,700,000,000 | II | ? | When it was announced in 2007, this was the brightest supernova ever seen! | |
| SN 2005gj | Cetus | 865,000,000 | Ia/II-n | ? | This supernova was special because it had features of two different types of supernovae. | |
| SN 2005gl | Pisces | +16.5 | 200,000,000 | II-n | NGC 266 | Scientists could even find the star that exploded in old pictures! |
| SN 2006gy | Perseus | +15 | 240,000,000 | IIn (*) | NGC 1260 | NASA observed this one. It stayed bright for over 70 days, possibly a new type of supernova. |
| SN 2007bi | Virgo | +18.3 | Ia | anonymous dwarf galaxy | This supernova was incredibly bright and lasted a long time. It matched predictions for a pair-instability supernova, which comes from extremely massive stars. | |
| SN 2007uy | Lynx | +16.8 | 84,000,000 | Ibc | NGC 2770 | This supernova was overshadowed by another one that happened shortly after. |
| SN 2008D | Lynx | 88,000,000 | Ibc | NGC 2770 | This was the first supernova ever seen right as it exploded! | |
| MENeaC Abell399.3.14.0 | Aries | +28.7 | 1,000,000,000 (z=0.0613) |
Ia | anonymous red globular cluster associated with anonymous red elliptical galaxy in cluster Abell 399 | This supernova was seen in 2009 and was found in a globular cluster, which is a tight group of stars. |
| SN 2009ip | Piscis Austrinus | 66,000,000 | IIn | NGC 7259 | This one was first thought to be a supernova, then a different type of star, and then finally confirmed as a supernova in 2012. | |
| SN 2010lt | Camelopardalis | +17.0 | 240,000,000 | Ia (sub-luminous) | UGC 3378 | This supernova was discovered by a 10-year-old girl, making her the youngest person to find a supernova! |
| SN 2011fe | Ursa Major | +10.0 | 21,000,000 | Ia | M101 | This was one of the few supernovae outside our galaxy that you could see with small binoculars. |
| SN 2014J | Ursa Major | +10.5 | 11,500,000 | Ia | M82 | This was the closest supernova to Earth since 2004. |
| ASASSN-15lh SN 2015L | Indus | +16.9 | 3,800,000,000 | Ic | APMUKS(BJ) B215839.70−615403.9 | This was the brightest hypernova (an extremely powerful supernova) ever seen. |
| IPTF14hls | Ursa Major | +17.7 | 509,000,000 | unknown | SDSS J092034.44+504148.7 (possible dwarf galaxy) | This was a very unusual supernova that puzzled scientists. |
| SN 2016aps | Draco | +18.11 | 3,600,000,000 | SLSB-II | ? | This was the brightest supernova-like event discovered so far. |
| SN 2018zd | Camelopardalis | +17.8 | 70,000,000 | Ia-csm | NGC 2146 | This was the first time scientists confirmed an electron capture supernova, a special type of explosion. |
| SN 2019hgp | Boötes | +20.16 | 920,000,000 | Icn | This was the first supernova detected from a Wolf–Rayet star, which is a very hot, massive star. | |
| SN 2020fqv | Virgo | +19.0 | 59,400,000 | IIb | NGC 4568 | This explosion was observed very early, just 26 hours after it started. |
| SN 2020tlf | Boötes | +15.89 | 120,000,000 | IIn | NGC 5731 | This was the first time a red supergiant star was watched before, during, and after its explosion. It was seen 130 days before it blew up! |
| SN 2022jli | Cetus | +14 | 75,000,000 | type I-c | NGC 157 | This supernova showed a strange pattern of brightness that repeated over time. |
| SN 2023ixf | Ursa Major | +10.8 | 21,000,000 | type II-L | Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) | This is one of the closest and brightest supernovae seen since 2014. |
See also
- List of most distant supernovae
- List of supernova candidates
- List of supernova remnants
- Lists of astronomical objects
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
List of supernovae Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.