2012's First Confirmed Supernova

The year's first confirmed supernova, named SN 2012A, was captured in this image of the irregular galaxy NGC 3239.  The galaxy lies a mere 25 million light years away.  Because of NGC 3239's peculiar shape, young blue star clusters, and star forming regions, astronomers believe that it is the result of a galactic merger.  The massive explosion was discovered earlier this month by supernova hunters, Bob Moore, Jack Newton, and Tim Puckett.  Discovering the supernova this year was amazing, but because of the enormous distance to this faraway galaxy, it actually occurred 25 million years ago. Image Credit: Adam Block / Mount Lemmon Skycenter / University of Arizona