Chandra Release - February 22, 2007

Visual Description: Supernova 1987A

Supernova 1987A was discovered on February 24, 1987, and is one of the brightest and most well-studied supernovae in recent history. The image shows a very large-field X-ray and optical view of Supernova 1987A, which appears as a small but bright blue-purple circular object in the center of the image with a pink-white rim. A larger figure 8-shape in red extends around the inner circle and is seemingly intercepted by 2 bright white foreground stars at 1 o’clock and 8 o’clock.  This composite image shows the effects of a powerful shock wave moving away from the explosion. The bright spots of X-ray and optical emission arise where the shock collides with structures in the surrounding gas. These structures were carved out by the wind from the destroyed star. Hot-spots in the Hubble image (pink-white) now encircle Supernova 1987A like a necklace of incandescent diamonds. The Chandra data (blue-purple) reveals multimillion-degree gas at the location of the optical hot-spots. These data give valuable insight into the behavior of the doomed star in the years before it exploded.