When a large  star reaches the end of its life and collapses in on itself, it sometimes will  explode with a very large and very violent explosion. This type  of explosion is called a Supernova, and for a few weeks the star can even  outshine its parent galaxy. I've managed to image a few of these rare events  and these are included below. Most were taken with the C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain  OTA working at F/4.7 or F/5.6 or (later F/5.0)  and mounted on the Astro-Physics 600E GOTO  mount. The CCD was either the Pixcel 237 or more recently the ST-7E on the Celestron 9.25" SCT OTA working at F/5.6 (or as indicated). Supernova 2003gd in M74 (latest image) was taken through my 6" Maksutov-Cassegrain OTA at F/10 with the ST-7E.

 For a list of the most prolific galaxies, (those that have had more than two supernovae events). Click here.