The football-shaped elliptical galaxy near the center of this image hosted a surprising supernova last year. PS1-12sk, the yellow dot at image center, is classified as a rare type Ibn supernova - only the sixth such example found out of thousands of supernovae. A type Ibn supernova is thought to come from the explosion of a young, massive star. However, the site of the explosion shows no signs of recent star formation, and a supernova from a massive star has never before been seen in a galaxy of this type. //
CfA/PS1 Science Consortium