4 September

2003: On 4 September 2003, astronomers released an image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Amid a backdrop of far-off galaxies, the dusty spiral, NGC 3370 was shown. Nearly 10 years earlier NGC 3370, in the constellation Leo, hosted a bright exploding star.

In November 1994, the light of a supernova in nearby NGC 3370 reached Earth. This stellar outburst briefly outshone all of the thousands of millions of other stars in its galaxy. Although supernovae are common, with one exploding every few seconds somewhere in the universe, this one was special. Designated SN 1994ae, this supernova was one of the nearest and best observed supernovae since the advent of modern digital detectors.

The Hubble image confirmed that the intricate spiral arm structure was spotted with hot areas of new star formation.