This image of SN 1987A, taken November 28, 2003 by the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST), shows many bright spots along a ring of gas, like pearls on a necklace. These cosmic pearls are being produced as superior shock waves unleashed during an explosion slam into the ring at more than a million miles per hour. The collision is heating the gas ring, causing its irnermost regions to glow. Astronomers detected the first of these hot spots in 1996, but now they see dozens of them all around the ring. With temperatures surging from a few thousand degrees to a million degrees, the flares are increasing in number. In the next few years, the entire ring will be ablaze as it absorbs the full force of the crash and is expected to become bright enough to illuminate the star’s surroundings. Astronomers will then be able to obtain information on how the star ejected material before the explosion. The elongated and expanding object in the center of the ring is debris form the supernova blast which is being heated by radioactive elements, principally titanium 44, that were created in the explosion. This explosion was first observed by astronomers seventeen years ago in 1987, although the explosion took place about 160,000 years ago.

Date of Image:
2003-11-28
Category:
History of Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
term:
Hubble Space Telescope
term:
HST
term:
Supernova
term:
SN 1987A
facet_what:
Advanced Camera for Surveys
facet_what:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_where:
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
facet_when:
1996
facet_when:
1987
facet_when:
November 28, 2003
facet_when_year:
1996
facet_when_year:
2003
facet_when_year:
1987
Reference Number:
MSFC-75-SA-4105-2C
MIX #:
0400393
NIX #:
MSFC-0400393
MSFC Negative Number:
0400393
UID:
SPD-MARSH-0400393
original url:
http://mix.msfc.nas…
Image ID:
162669
Resolution Size:
5
Format:
JP2
Media Type:
Image
File Name:
0400393.jp2
Width:
2400
Height:
3000

Tags: Fading Supernova Creates Spectacular Light Show, galaxy, nasa, photo, space, star, Universe

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