The site of the Supernova 1993J explosion (composite)
A virtual journey into one of the spiral arms of the grand spiral Messier 81 (imaged with the Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma, left) reveals the superb razor-sharp imaging power of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (Hubble's WFPC2 instrument, below). The close-up (with Hubble's ACS, to the right) is centred on the newly discovered companion star to Supernova 1993J that itself is no longer visible. The quarter-circle around the supernova companion is a so-called light echo originating from sheets of dust in the galaxy reflecting light from the original supernova explosion.
Credit:ESA and Justyn R. Maund (University of Cambridge)
About the Image
| Id: | heic0401b |
| Type: | Collage |
| Release date: | 7 January 2004, 15:00 |
| Related releases: | heic0401 |
| Size: | 2239 x 1716 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Messier 81, NGC 3031, SN 1993J |
| Type: | Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
| Distance: | 12 million light years |
| Category: | Galaxies |
