Chandra Release - August 17, 2005

Visual Description: Supernova 1987A

The two panel graphic shows a Chandra X-ray Observatory image (left) and a Hubble optical image (right) of a supernova remnant called SN1987a.  The Chandra X-ray image shows a bright, white donut shaped object in the center, surrounded by a rim of bright purple.  The overall texture of the image is mostly smooth with just a little pixelation.   The optical image at right is in bright orange and shows a more detailed donut structure with a rim of pearl-like bright spots and a core with a slight fish shape deep inside.  The Chandra image reveals a ring of multimillion-degree gas produced by the collision of an outward-moving supernova shock wave with a ring of cool circumstellar gas. The optical image from Hubble shows the ring of bright spots that are also caused by the shock wave hitting the cool gas. Long before the explosion of the massive star that produced Supernova 1987A, most of its outer layers expanded away in a slowly moving stellar wind that formed a vast cloud of gas. Later, a high-speed wind from the star carved out a cavity about 1 light year in diameter in the cool gas cloud. As the supernova shock wave plows deeper into the cool cloud the ring should become larger and much brighter in both optical and X-ray light.