Recent observations from the Hubble and Chandra space telescopes are
giving scientists glimpses into the troubled life history
Recent observations from the Hubble and Chandra space
telescopes are giving scientists a rare glimpse into the troubled life history
of Supernova 1987A, and clues about the exploding star that spawned it.
This is what scientists have been able to piece together:
10 million years ago, a massive blue star called Sanduleak
-69° 202 formed from a swirling cloud of gas and dust in a galaxy known as the
Large Magellanic Cloud.
One million years ago, a slow moving stellar wind traveling
through the galaxy stripped away most of Sanduleak’s outer layers, encasing the
star in a giant cloud of cool gas.
About 160,000 years ago, Sanduleak exploded, producing
Supernova 1987A and carving out a gigantic cavity within the surrounding gas
cloud. Ultraviolet light from the explosion collided with gas at the edge of
the cavity, producing the fiery ring observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
A slower moving shockwave was also produced at the moment
of the explosion, and scientists have been eagerly anticipating the moment when
this shockwave would likewise collide with the gas.
In 1999, the Chandra X-ray Telescope and the Hubble Space
telescope detected evidence that this was happening. As the shock wave moves
into the dense cloud, ultraviolet and X-radiation from the shock wave will heat
much more of the surrounding gas.
Then, as remarked by Richard McCray, one of the scientists involved in the
Chandra research, "Supernova 1987A will be illuminating its own
past."
