Spiral Galaxy NGC 1448 before and after the explosion of SN 2001el

The spiral galaxy NGC 1448, as seen in an archive image from the Digital Sky Survey (Courtesy of STScI) and as seen close to the brightness maximum of the supernova SN 2001el using EMMI on the NTT. SN 2001el is marked by the arrow. The field measures 4.5 x 4.5 arcmin 2 ; North is up and east is right.