Supernova Remnant N132D in Optical and X Rays

Explanation: Thousands of years after a star exploded, its expanding remnant still glows brightly across the spectrum. Such is the case with N132D , a supernova remnant located in the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) galaxy. The expanding shell from this explosion now spans 80 light-years and has swept up about 600 Suns worth of mass. N132D was imaged recently in optical light and in great detail with the Hubble Space Telescope . The Hubble image was then combined with a position coincident detailed image in X-ray light taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory . The combination, shown above in representative colors, shows a nearly spherical expanding shockwave highlighted by pink emission from hydrogen gas and purple emission from oxygen gas. A dense field of unrelated stars also from the LMC populates the image. Studying the image gives an opportunity to study material once hidden deep inside a star. N132D spans about 150 light years and lies about 160,000 light years away toward the constellation of Dorado .