These moments are rare. There is a Supernova going on right now.
It is named SN 2014J and it is in the Messier 82 Galaxy, commonly known as the "Cigar Galaxy" or M82.
It was just noticed a day or two, it is expected to reach its peak brightness in two weeks although some believe it may be at its peak right now.
According to the scientific establishment, Supernovae are dying stars that explode.
This particular one has been categorized as a type Ia supernova: that is an exploding white dwarf in a close binary system. One supposed peculiarity of this SN is that it is not forming near the core of the galaxy, but rather near the edge. It's on one of the edges of the galactic arms. I have been reading lately that magnetic fields tend to be concentrated on one of the edges of spiral galaxy arms. If there's magnetism, then there must be electricity. The Nordic tradition in plasma cosmology (ie Hannes Alfven) teaches that the galactic arms .
The M82 galaxy is apparently known for producing lots of stars, and supposedly its distorted spiral shape is due to a nearby Galaxy M81. Both are part of the "M81 Group" of galaxies. In astronomical scales, this supernova is just around the corner at a mere 12 million light years away.
If I'm not mistaken, the EU view on supernovae is something along the lines of... the magnetic pinch/instability cuts off the electric transmission line, provoking a kind of galactic arc'ing or double layer explosion due to the pent up inductance (inductive energy). I personally subscribe to this line of reasoning. It will be interesting to analyse the data. Specifically, I will be comparing X-Ray images of the area before and during the event (Chandra), comparing with other sources, some spectral analysis, and so on. I hope many others can also contribute to this thread. I have been learning that it's apparently difficult to get satellite or telescope data for particular dates (ie analyse evolution), and that the amateur community is relied upon somewhat. Only problem is, they only have visible light telescopes.
Here is a before and after snapshot of M82 with and without the supernova from an amateur, it's just amazing how bright these things are, they really outshine their host galaxies.
Here is the Cigar Galaxy as usually seen in high grade images:
