On August 24th Peter Nugent of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, found this event unfolding. It's a dead star that exploded which then turns into a supernova.
You can see it tonight. It's near the bend in the big dipper.
here is an aricle that explains how to find it.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
This is the brightest supernova that’s been visible from the latitudes of North America in decades” said Alan MacRobert, a senior editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, in an email this afternoon. “And it’s a Type Ia, which means it’s being studied to death right now because Type Ia supernovae serve as excellent distance markers for things much farther away all across the universe. Here’s a chance for researchers to learn more about how they actually work, because this one’s big and bright right in our cosmic backyard, relatively speaking.
so dig out those 4" telescopes & have a look at history in the making.
here's another article
Astronomers discover the “supernova of a generation”
http://www.geek.com/...