Sky Matters: Not all stars explode, but when they do it's a spectacular sight - requiring sophisticated equipment

"The most famous supernova was that of 1054. Records show it was visible for a few weeks in daytime. It was also named the “Crab Nebula” by the Third Earl of Ross using a 0.9m telescope that he had built, from his estate in Birr, County Offaly."

Pic: iStock/NASA

During June we were fortunate enough at Blackrock Castle Observatory to have the opportunity to photograph a star exploding in a relatively nearby galaxy commonly known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. 

Such explosions, known as supernovae, happen about twice in every century in a galaxy as big as the Pinwheel, or indeed our home galaxy the Milky Way which is of comparable size. That’s pretty rare when you consider there are one hundred thousand million stars in either galaxy that could explode at any given time.