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 spectrograph viewed the entire ring system, dissecting its light and producing a detailed image of the ring in each of its component colors. This image shows the ring in the optical light of hydrogen (center) flanked by images in nitrogen emission.
The arrow points to a streak produced by gas rushing toward us at 200 miles per sec. This is the same place where the bright knot is seen in Hubble's WFPC-2 images. This is the first hint that the collision between the high-speed supernova debris and gases in the glowing ring has begun.
Supernova 1987A is located 167,000 light years away from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Credits
George Sonneborn and Jason Pun (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | SN 1987A |
| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The 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. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
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| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
