Changes in the ring nebula around SN 1987A

Eso_eso9401a_1024

eso_eso9401a January 27th, 1994

Credit: ESO

This computer-processed picture is an average of two 15-min exposures, obtained in the light of ionised nitrogen during the morning of December 20, 1993, with the Super Seeing Instrument (SuSI) at the 3.58m ESO New Technology Telescope. It shows the complex structure of the faint nebulae around SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The inner ring was formed from interaction with matter ejected during an earlier phase by the star that later exploded as a supernova. Spectra and theoretical models suggest that the faint outer nebular loops trace the outer rim of a large bubble which was also formed by outflowing matter. The supernova itself, at the centre of the inner ring, emits very little light in the narrow spectral band used for this observation and is not visible on this picture. Because of the very large range of intensities in these nebulosities, and in order to better show the structure, the intensities of the low surface brightness parts of the image have been greatly enhanced, relative to the brighter parts. Most of the light from the inner ring is concentrated in a narrow, bright band which has been given relatively little prominence in this modified picture. However, the uneven structure, in particular the greater intensity in the North-West (upper right part), is clearly visible. This picture shows very faint structures and therefore a greater overall width of the ring than do earlier pictures. The nominal resolution of this picture as determined by the size of the stellar images in the field, is 0.20 arcsec. The gap in the upper right quadrant of the outer ring is an artifact caused by subtracting a bright star at this location. The pixel size is 0.032 arcsec.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9401a/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
SN 1987A
Subject - Local Universe
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Supernova

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Grayscale NTT (EMMI) Optical (NII) -
Eso_eso9401a_1280
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ID
eso9401a
Subject Category
C.3.1.8  
Subject Name
SN 1987A
Credits
ESO
Release Date
1994-01-27T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9401a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
New Technology Telescope
Instrument
EMMI
Color Assignment
Grayscale
Band
Optical
Bandpass
NII
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
3156.0, 2255.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso9401a
Metadata Date
2023-10-11T09:27:21.428035
Metadata Version
1.1
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