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Back The Glowing Gas Ring around Supernova 1987A

The Glowing Gas Ring around Supernova 1987A


Depicts: SN 1987A
Copyright: NASA, Peter Challis and Robert Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Peter Garnavich (University of Notre Dame) and the SINS collaboration

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 image shows the glowing gas ring around supernova 1987A, as seen on February 2, 2000. The gas, excited by light from the explosion, has been fading for a decade, but parts of it are now being heated by the collision of an invisible shockwave from the supernova explosion.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
18-Feb-2026 09:24 UT

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