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Supernova remnant

Supernova 1987A

Also SN 1987A

Open in Ouranos

Supernova 1987A — JWST, near-infrared; the ring around the explosion — JWST, near-infrared; the ring around the explosion. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, M. Matsuura (Cardiff University), R. Arendt (NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center & University of Maryland, Baltimore County), C. Fransson (Stockholm University), J. Larsson (KTH Royal Institute of Technology), A. Pagan (STScI). Licence: CC BY 4.0. Source

A star that exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud, seen from Earth in February 1987.

Measured

Distance: about 168,000 light-years (published estimates 164,000–172,000)
Constellation: Dorado
Position (J2000): RA 5h 35m 28s, Dec −69.27°

How far, from the Sun

About 168,000 light-years. To cross it:

Light168,000 years
Voyager 1's speed2.99 billion years
Driving at 100 km/h1.81 trillion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

About two dozen neutrinos from the blast were detected on Earth hours before its light arrived.
Its light left the star about 168,000 years before it reached us.
In 2024 JWST found evidence of a neutron star hidden in its debris.

How it was found

First seen on 24 February 1987, it was the closest observed supernova since Kepler's in 1604.

Where this comes from

Panagia 1999, light-echo ring geometry (51.4 ± 1.2 kpc)

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.