NASA / ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope observes a brilliant supernova in spiral galaxy NGC 337 located 60 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cetus. The supernova, named SN 2014cx, is a Type IIP supernova, meaning that the exploding star was a supergiant at least eight times as massive as the Sun.
As for the “P”, it stands for plateau, representing once the light from the supernova began to fade, the level remains the same brightness for several weeks or months before fading further. This type of supernova basically happens when a massive star can no longer produce enough energy in its core to stave off the crushing pressure of gravity.
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A barred spiral galaxy on a dark background. The galaxy’s central region is a pale color due to older stars, contains some pale reddish threads of dust, and is brighter along a broad horizontal bar through the very center. Off the bar come several stubby spiral arms, merging into the outer region of the disc. It is a cool blue color and contains some bright sparkling blue spots, both indicating young hot star,” said the ESA.
