A Three-Ringed Circus
This Hubble Space Telescope image, taken in February 1994 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, shows the full system of three rings of glowing gas surrounding supernova 1987A. Located in a small galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, the supernova is a massive star that exploded in about 165, 000 BC, but its light didn't arrive here until February 1987.
Credit:
P. Challis (CfA)
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo9808g |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 10 February 1998, 06:00 |
| Size: | 642 x 665 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Large Magellanic Cloud, SN 1987A |
| Type: | • Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova |
| Distance: | 170000 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
| Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
