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NGC 1559 is barred spiral galaxy located about 50 million ly away in the southern constellation
Reticulum. This galaxy is relatively small, about 7 times smaller than our Milky Way. It is a
Seyfert galaxy, characterized by a bright nucleus that radiates strongly in blue and ultraviolet.
The image shows supernova 2005df, discovered by Robert Evans 04/08/2005. It is a type Ia
supernova, caused by a massive giant star spilling its matter unto a tiny white dwarf in a binary
system. Ultimately the dwarf star reaches a critical mass and become instable, finally exploding
as a supernova, sometimes outshining the entire host galaxy. Thie image was taken when the
supernova had dimmed considerably.
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