Supernova 2013ej can be seen here in galaxy Messier 74.

Hold your mouse cursor over the image to see the location of the supernova.

M74 is a face-on, grand-design, Sc spiral galaxy with low surface brightness located in the constellation of Pisces, 1.3 degrees northeast of Alpherg (Eta Piscium).

M74 shines at magnitude 9.1 and subtends an apparent angle of 10.5 x 9.5 arcminutes. It is located 35 million light-years from Earth. At that distance its true size in space would be 100,000 light-years in diameter.

M74 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780.

Supernova 2013ej

Supernova 2013ej was discovered by astronomers at the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) using a robotic telescope on July 25, 2013. It was shining at magnitude 12.5 when this image was taken 12 days later. It is located 92 arcseconds east and 135 arcseconds south of the galaxy's core.

The supernova is a Type II resulting from a single massive star that exploded. That star had been imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope prior to the supernova, and the progenitor star was a 25th magnitude M-type red supergiant.

Two other supernovae have been discovered in M74 previously. Supernova 2002ap, a type Ib/c hypernovae was discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yoji Hirose on January 29, 2002. Supernova 2003gd, a type II-P supernova, was discovered visually by the Reverend Robert Evans, an amateur astronomer, in Australia on June 12, 2003. It was Evans' 37th supernova discovery.

North is to the top in the above image.

Messier 74 Catalogs: M74, NGC 628, PGC 5974, UGC 1149 Object Type: Sc Galaxy Magnitude: 9.1v Size: 10.5' x 9.5' Constellation: Pisces Image Field Centered At: RA: 01h 36m 42s Dec: +15° 47' 02"