eso_11_sn-1987a_cc March 12th, 2010
Credit: ESO
In this image, taken with NTT and EMMI, light echoes from supernova SN 1987A are seen as two concentric rings around the bright star. Since the outburst of SN 1987A, light echoes have been used as an efficient way of studying the structure of the interstellar medium close to the supernova. SN1987A, detected in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, was the closest explosion of this kind for several centuries, the first visible by naked-eye for 383 years and definitely an event of the greatest relevance in modern astronomy. ESO telescopes have been observing this object for more than twenty years. More information in ESO Messenger 67, p37
Provider: European Southern Observatory
Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/11_sn-1987a_cc/
Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany
Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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