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Supernova 1987A: December 15, 2004
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.05h 35m 28.25s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.-69° 16' 13.0"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Dorado
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.Approximately 160,000 light-years (49 kiloparsecs) away
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.Roughly 9 arcseconds wide. At the distance of the LMC, this represents 9.5 light-years (2.9 parsecs).
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.The primary image released comes from ACS/HRC data from the HST proposal 10867: R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/HRC
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.December 15, 2004
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F435W (B), F555W (V), and F625W (R)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.SN 1987A
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)
- Release DateFebruary 22, 2007
- Science ReleaseNASA’s Hubble Telescope Celebrates SN 1987A’s 20th Anniversary
- Credits
This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the WFPC2 and ACS instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters. Three filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F435W (B) Green: F555W (V) Red: F625W (R)
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
