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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

🌌 NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Supernova 1987a Fireball Resolved Credit:

Date: 1997-01-24

Supernova 1987a Fireball Resolved
Credit:

View HD Image

Explanation:

Ten years ago the most notable supernova
of modern times was observed. In February 1987, light reached
Earth from a star which exploded in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud
galaxy. Supernova 1987a
remains the closest supernova
since the invention of the telescope. The explosion
catapulted a tremendous amount of gas,
light,
and neutrinos
into interstellar space. When observed by the Hubble Space Telescope
(HST) in 1994, large strange rings
were discovered whose origin is still mysterious, although thought
to have been expelled even before the main explosion. More recent HST observations
shown in the inset, however, have uncovered something actually predicted:
the expanding fireball from the exploding star. The above high resolution images
resolve two blobs flung out from the central explosion.