Supernova SN 2017eaw and NGC 6946, further follow-up – 22 July 2017
As promised, we continue our follow-up observations of NGC 6946 and its supernova SN 2017eaw. The object was found at mag. 13.1, a little fainter than two weeks earlier. Is this an hint that the transient started fading?
Supernova SN 2017eaw and NGC 6946: 22 July 2017
The image above is the average of five, 120-seconds exposures, remotely taken with “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″+Paramount ME+SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available at Virtual Telescope. The image scale is 1.2″/pixel.
We managed to measure the brightness of SN 2017eaw, finding it at mag. 13.1 (unfiltered, R-mags for the reference stars from UCAC-4), suggesting the transient is now fading. Of course, we need more observations to confirm this. Luckily, the object will be visible for many months. In more than two months since its discovery (14 May), this supernova spent most of its time close to mag. 13 in brightness, the so-called “plateau”. It is worth to note that the lightcurve is color-dependent. In the B (blue) band, the star has been fading soon after its maximum. You can check the AAVSO website for a complete lightcurve
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