NGC 3810 with annotated supernova

This image depicts the spiral galaxy NGC 3810, which in 2023 was included in a Hubble programme to improve the accuracy of distance measurements made using Type Ia supernovae. This was only possible because a white dwarf in NGC 3810 had just gone supernova, and Hubble captured this image before the supernova faded from view.

Supernovae are named for their year of discovery, followed by an incrementing tag of letters — a, b, and so on. Nowadays, with automated surveys, thousands of supernovae are discovered every year, and so this one received the name SN 2022zut, as the eighteen thousand, one hundred and forty-second found in 2022!

Learn more about this galaxy and Type Ia supernova at the main image, here.

[Image Description: A spiral galaxy, with a shining core in the centre and winding spiral arms. A bright point in the galaxy, just below the core, has been marked with a white circle and the text “SN2022zut”.]