wrote:

Hello Everyone,

I believe there was an observed supernova event last year. That was
extremely bright.

My question is this ... "Given that we know the source of the super
nova event, can we not use the light from that event to image distant
planets"

I imagine people have asked this before, so Im just curious.

It won't help image distant planets, but it can illuminate any large
clouds of material (generally not too far from the SN) that happen to
get in the way between it and the Earth. Look up light echoes - HST made
some stunning images of one not long ago.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...ho_030326.html

Ditto for nova Cygni.

http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/AAO/images/...ns/aat066.html

Regards,
Martin Brown