STIS Chemically Analyzes the Ring Around SN 1987a
The ring formed 30, 000 years before the star exploded and so is a fossil record of the final stages of the star's existence. The light from the supernova heated the gas in the ring so that it now glows at temperatures from 5, 000 to 25, 000 degrees Kelvin.
Credit:
Jason Pun (NOAO) and SINS Collaboration
About the Image
About the Object
| Name: | IRAS 05240-6948, Large Magellanic Cloud, LMC, SN 1987A |
| Type: | • Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova |
| Distance: | 170000 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
| Optical H-alpha |
Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
