Two Views of a Star's Exploded Remains

Nhsc_nhsc2011-012a_1024

nhsc_nhsc2011-012a July 7th, 2011

Credit: ESA/NASA-JPL/Caltech/UCL/STScI

This layout compares two pictures of a supernova remnant called SN 1987A -- the left image was taken by the Herschel Space Observatory, and the right is an enlarged view of the circled region at left, taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. SN 1987A is the result of a stellar blast that occurred 170,000 light-years away and was seen on Earth in 1987. The tiny pink ring in the Hubble image shows where a shock wave from the blast is hitting the surrounding material expelled from the star before the explosion. The cause for the outer, faint rings is unknown.

When Herschel observed SN 1987A, it saw something different. Herschel sees infrared and submillimeter light, much longer in wavelength than the visible light Hubble detects. For this reason, its picture of the supernova is not as sharp, appearing only as a fuzzy dot inside the circle. But that dot represents an important discovery of vast reservoirs of cold dust around SN 1987A. Herschel can see very cold material -- the colder something is, the longer the wavelengths of light it emits.

The finding demonstrates that supernova can indeed create copious amounts of fresh dust, and likely are the primary source of dust in the very early universe.

The Herschel image also shows filamentary structures surrounding the region of SN 1987A. These are from cold dust, as cold as 10 to 20 Kelvin (minus 442 to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit), filling the space between the stars. The dust in the interstellar space may have originally formed in past explosions of other supernovae.

SN 1987A is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way. SN 1987A is the one of the closest supernovae monitored by humans for the last 400 years. It has provided astronomers with an opportunity to understand how a star dies and changes shape over 20 years.

The Hershel image was taken by the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer, and the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver, at wavelengths of 100, 160 and 250 microns, which are just about one-tenth to one-quarter of a millimeter.

Herschel is a European Space Agency cornerstone mission, with science instruments provided by consortia of European institutes and with important participation by NASA. NASA's Herschel Project Office is based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. JPL contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments. The NASA Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supports the United States astronomical community. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Provider: Herschel Space Observatory

Image Source: https://www.herschel.caltech.edu/image/nhsc2011-012a

Curator: NASA Herschel Science Center, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/imagepolicy/

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Supernova 1987A Large Magellanic Cloud LMC
Subject - Local Universe
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Supernova
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale2
168,000 light years
Nhsc_nhsc2011-012a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 5h 35m 28.0s
DEC = -69° 16’ 10.9”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
24.0 x 24.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Dorado

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Herschel (PACS) Infrared (Far-IR) 70.0 µm
Green Herschel (PACS) Infrared (Far-IR) 160.0 µm
Red Herschel (SPIRE) Infrared (Far-IR) 250.0 µm
Observation data are for Herschel observation
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Green
Red
Nhsc_nhsc2011-012a_1280
×
ID
nhsc2011-012a
Subject Category
C.3.1.8   C.4.1.4   C.4.1.2  
Subject Name
Supernova 1987A, Large Magellanic Cloud, LMC
Credits
ESA/NASA-JPL/Caltech/UCL/STScI
Release Date
2011-07-07
Lightyears
168,000
Redshift
168,000
Reference Url
https://www.herschel.caltech.edu/image/nhsc2011-012a
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Herschel, Herschel, Herschel
Instrument
PACS, PACS, SPIRE
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Far-IR, Far-IR, Far-IR
Central Wavelength
70000, 160000, 250000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
O
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000
Reference Value
83.8667000000, -69.2697000000
Reference Dimension
720, 720
Reference Pixel
360, 360
Scale
-5.55555555556000e-04, 5.55555555556000e-04
Rotation
-0
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
Coordinates are for Herschel image
Creator (Curator)
NASA Herschel Science Center
URL
http://www.herschel.caltech.edu/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/imagepolicy/
Publisher
Publisher ID
nhsc
Resource ID
Metadata Date
2018-06-21T00:18:21Z
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
168,000 light years

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