A new supernova has been discovered in NGC6946 in Cygnus. Mag. is estimated at 12.8. This is the eighth supernova observed in this galaxy. Plot from Guide here (created by Mikkel Steine): messier45.com/images/sn2004et.gif

Details of SN below.

[vsnet-alert 8328] SN 2004et in NGC 6946 (mag 12.8, CBET 95)
SN2004et 20040927.0 128C SMr

SN 2004et (20:35:25.4, +60:07:17.6 (J2000.0), offset about 250"E and
120"S) is hosted by NGC 6946, a quite nearby (5.1Mpc) face-on spiral
(SAB(rs)cd) galaxy in the northern part of the constellation Cygnus. NGC 6946 is one of the most SN productive galaxies (SNe 1917A, 1939C, 1948B, 1968D, 1969P, 1980K and 2002hh), then SN 2004et is the eighth SN in one galaxy (new record!). The Asiago team took a high-resolution spectrum on Sept. 28, which suggests that it is a young type II SN, affected some reddening by both in our Galaxy and in NGC 6946; total amount of E(B-V) is estimated as 0.41 mag. The discovery magnitude is consistent with the expected maximum for typical SN II. Further observations are strongly encouraged.

This is a bright supernova, most are much fainter than this. Here's another finder chart by Greg Crinklaw, creator of Sky Tools software. www.skyhound.com/sh/SN2004et.gif

Thanks for the heads up,
If I can get a clear sky, then its certainly worth having a go, before cygnus gets too low in the sky.

Was organising files on my work machine and I came across this image of NGC6946 taken by students during a VTIE session in may of this year. Makes an interesting image for comparison.



The image was taken with the 14" TIE telescope on Mount Wilson. The exposure time was about 2 minutes.

Bart.