Space Science Update: Shock Wave Sheds New Light on Fading Supernova (Webcast)

Bright Knot Appears in Supernova 1987a Ring

[RIGHT] - This NASA Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 image shows the glowing gas ring around supernova 1987A, as it appeared in 1994. The gas, excited by light from the explosion, has been fading for a decade. [LEFT] - Recent Hubble telescope observations...

Supernova 1987A -- July 1997

"Before" (Feb. '94) image oriented and scaled to match "after"

Hubble data shows increase in brightness of knot

SN debris colliding with inner ring

Knot in Ring of Supernova 1987A Grows Brighter

Three Rings of Gas Surround Supernova 1987A

This Hubble Space Telescope image, taken in February 1994 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, shows the full system of three rings of glowing gas surrounding supernova 1987A. Located in a small galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, the supernova is a massive star...

STIS Spectrum Showing Interaction Regions

STIS Discovers High-Speed Gas from Collision Around Supernova 1987a

This image from the Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) shows a new and unprecedented look at the light-year wide ring of glowing gas around supernova 1987A, the nearest stellar explosion in 400 years, which occurred in February 1987. The STIS long-slit...

Evolution of Debris

Supernova Explosion

There's an initial flash of light from the supernova explosion causing the ring to glow. Debris hurls into space, the fastest moving at 1/10 the speed of light. The supernova's shockwave causes the ring to glow again. The closer the pieces of the ring are to the shockwave, the...