Other designations SN 2003gd Spectral class SN II-P Right ascension 01 36 42.65 Constellation Pisces | Event type Supernova Date 12 June 2003 Declination +15° 44' 20.9 | |
Similar SN 2005cs, SN 1993J, SN 2004dj, Messier 74, Eta Piscium | ||
SN 2003gd was a type II-P supernova occurring in the spiral galaxy Messier 74 in the constellation Pisces. SN 2003gd was discovered on 12 June 2003 by Robert Evans, using a 0.31m reflector, and its discovery was confirmed on 13 June 2003 by R. H. McNaught using the 1.0m telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory.
Progenitor
Messier 74 had been observed approximately 200 days before the explosion with the Hubble Space Telescope, and about 300 days before using the Gemini Telescope. Astronomers were able to identify an object in these pre-supernova images that was in the same position as SN 2003gd, and which is believed to be the supernova's progenitor star. This progenitor star was a red supergiant, consistent with the expectations of existing single-star stellar evolution models. It is the first progenitor of a normal type II-P supernova to have ever been detected.