FOR RELEASE: 2:00 pm (EDT) July 28, 2005

PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC05-21


HUBBLE PINPOINTS DOOMED STAR THAT EXPLODES AS SUPERNOVA

Amidst the glitter of billions of stars in the majestic spiral galaxy
called the Whirlpool (M51), a massive star abruptly ends its life in a
brilliant flash of light. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped images
of the exploding star, called supernova (SN) 2005cs, 12 days after its
discovery. Astronomers then compared those photos with Hubble images of
the same region before the supernova blast to pinpoint the progenitor
star (the star that exploded).

Credit: NASA, ESA, W. Li and A. Filippenko (University of California,
Berkeley), S. Van Dyk (Spitzer Science Center, Caltech), S. Beckwith
(STScI), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

For the full story, please visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2005/21

For additional information, please contact:
Weidong Li, Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley,
601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, (phone) 510-643-8973,
(fax) 510-642-3411, (e-mail) or

Alex Filippenko, Department of Astronomy, University of California,
Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, (phone)
510-642-1813, (fax) 510-642-3411, (e-mail) or

Justyn Maund, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge,
Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, England, UK, (phone) +44-1223-337544,
(fax) +44-1233-337523, (e-mail)

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for
NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

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