 |
Australia Telescope Compact Array
|
 |
|
 |
|
The evolving supernova remnant 1987A
In early 1987, those in the southern hemisphere were rewarded with
the first naked eye supernova since that seen by Kepler in the 16th century.
A supernova is a violent explosive death of a star. The supernova of
1987 was in our companion galaxy - the Large Magellanic Cloud. Above are
images showing the evolution of the supernova remnant (dates given as a decimal
year) from late 1992 to late 2000. The remnant is growing in size, but
also brightening significantly -- the shock wave from the supernova
explosion is starting
to crash into material ejected in the death throes of the star. As this
collision becomes more pronounced, we expect the remnant to become
brighter still.
More images of supernova remnant 1987A
ATCA images by B. Gaensler, R. Manchester,
L. Staveley-Smith,
M. Kesteven, A. Tzioumis, N. Bizunok, V. Wheaton and J. Reynolds.
Original: Bob Sault (7-Jan-2003)
Modified: Bob Sault (8-Jan-2003)