 The expanding ring-shaped remnant of SN 1987A and its interaction with its surroundings, seen in X-ray and visible light. | |
| Event type | Supernova |
|---|---|
| Type II (peculiar)[1] | |
| Date | c. 168,000 years ago (discovered by Ian Shelton and Oscar Duhalde at 5:31 UTC on February 24, 1987[2]) |
| Constellation | Dorado |
| Right ascension | 05h 35m 28.03s[3] |
| Declination | −69° 16′ 11.79″[3] |
| Epoch | J2000 |
| Galactic coordinates | G279.7-31.9 |
| Distance | 51.4 kpc (168,000 ly)[3] |
| Host | Large Magellanic Cloud |
| Progenitor | Sanduleak -69 202 |
| Progenitor type | B3 Supergiant |
| Colour (B-V) | +0.085 |
| Notable features | Closest recorded supernova since invention of telescope |
| Peak apparent magnitude | +2.9 |
| Other designations | SN 1987A, AAVSO 0534-69, INTREF 262, SNR 1987A, SNR B0535-69.3, [BMD2010] SNR J0535.5-6916 |
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SN 1987A was a type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs (168,000 light-years) from Earth and was the closest observed supernova since Kepler's Supernova in 1604. Light and neutrinos from the explosion reached Earth on February 23, 1987 and was designated "SN 1987A" as the first supernova discovered that year. Its brightness peaked in May of that year, with an apparent magnitude of about 3.
It was the first supernova that modern astronomers were able to study in great detail, and its observations have provided much insight into core-collapse supernovae. SN 1987A provided the first opportunity to confirm by direct observation the radioactive source of the energy for visible light emissions, by detecting predicted gamma-ray line radiation from two of its abundant radioactive nuclei. This proved the radioactive nature of the long-duration post-explosion glow of supernovae.
In 2019, indirect evidence for the presence of a collapsed neutron star within the remnants of SN 1987A was discovered using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope. Further evidence was subsequently uncovered in 2021 through observations conducted by the Chandra and NuSTAR X-ray telescopes.
- ^ Lyman, J. D.; Bersier, D.; James, P. A. (2013). "Bolometric corrections for optical light curves of core-collapse supernovae". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 437 (4): 3848. arXiv:1311.1946. Bibcode:2014MNRAS.437.3848L. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt2187. S2CID 56226661.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
iaucwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c "SN1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud". Hubble Heritage Project. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2006.