SN 2006jc was a

supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

that was detected on October 9, 2006 in the galaxy

UGC 4904 UGC 4904 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Lynx, located about 77 million light-years from Earth. On October 20, 2004, a supernova impostor was observed by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki within the galaxy. This same star ...

, which is about 77 million

light-years A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

away in the constellation

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

. It was first seen by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki, American amateur

Tim Puckett Puckett Observatory is a private astronomical observatory located in the state of Georgia. It is owned and operated by Tim Puckett. Its primary observation goals are the study of comets and the discovery of supernovae. To facilitate the latter g ...

and Italian amateur Roberto Gorelli. Two years earlier, the progenitor star produced a

supernova impostor Supernova impostors are stellar explosions that appear at first to be a supernova but do not destroy their progenitor stars. As such, they are a class of extra-powerful novae. They are also known as Type V supernovae, Eta Carinae analogs, and gia ...

that was detected by Itagaki. This outburst was apparently the progenitor star shedding its outer layers. When the star exploded in 2006, the shockwave hit the material blown off in 2004, heating it to millions of degrees and emitting copious amounts of

X-rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...

References

External links

Light curves and spectra
on th
Open Supernova Catalog
{{supernovae Supernovae Lynx (constellation)