Astronomers using the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea have trained their attention on a rare celestial event, a stellar explosion in a neighboring galaxy.

The supernova began Wednesday in the Pinwheel Galaxy and astronomers at Keck and the Lick Telescope in California have confirmed it is a Type 1a supernova, which usually occur in very distant galaxies.

Having one appear so close is an opportunity to look for clues to the underlying cause. Astronomers hope to get a very precise location so that they can look at Hubble Space Telescope images and see if there was anything there before, perhaps a red giant star.