Zooming in on Supernova 1987A
The video begins with a nighttime view of the Small and Large Magellanic clouds, satellite galaxies of our Milky Way. It then zooms into a rich star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Nestled between mountains of red-colored gas is the odd-looking structure of Supernova 1987A, the remnant of an exploded star that was first observed in February 1987. The site of the supernova is surrounded by a ring of material that is illuminated by a wave of energy from the outburst. Two faint outer rings are also visible. All three rings existed before the explosion as fossil relics of the doomed star’s activity in its final days.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/the-dawn-of-a-new-era-for-supernova-1987a