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Supernova 1987A: The remnant of an exploded star in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy 160,000 light years from Earth. Caption: This composite image of Supernova 1987A shows the effects of a powerful shock wave moving away from the explosion. Bright spots of X-ray and optical emission arise where the shock collides with structures in the surrounding gas. These structures were carved out by the wind from the destroyed star. Hot-spots in the Hubble image (pink-white) now encircle Supernova 1987A like a necklace of incandescent diamonds. The Chandra data (blue-purple) reveals multimillion-degree gas at the location of the optical hot-spots. These data give valuable insight into the behavior of the doomed star in the years before it exploded. Scale: Image is 12 arcsec across. Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image |
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