Astrophysics (Index)About

SN 1987A

(1987A)
(supernova in February 1987 rare for being visible by the naked eye)

SN 1987A is a 1987 supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), about 168000 light-years away, whose light reached Earth on February 23, 1987. Its apparent magnitude at its brightest was +3 in May 1987. Neutrino detectors, including the IMB detected bursts of neutrinos coincident with the supernova EMR reaching Earth. It has been much studied since.

It is considered a core collapse supernova and a portion of their study consists of the study of their remnants. The SN 1987A remnant has more circular symmetry than spherical, suggesting the progenitor's stellar rotation was a factor. Observations of the light curve have shown that the explosion was highly asymmetric, i.e., an anisotropic explosion. There is effort to identify a resulting neutron star, e.g., by comparing observations to observed characteristics of remnants where there is clearer evidence of a neutron star. An apparent pulsar wind nebula (PWN) has been observed.


(supernova,event,transient)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/the-dawn-of-a-new-era-for-supernova-1987a
https://chandra.cfa.harvard.edu/photo/2017/sn1987a/
https://www.aavso.org/vsots_sn1987a
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1989QJRAS..30..419M/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019ApJ...886...51C/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020ApJ...898..125P/abstract
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=sn1987a
RedshiftParsecs
/Distance
Lightyears
/Lookback Years
  
~052kpc168klySN 1987A
Coordinates:1987A
J053528.03-691611.79

Referenced by pages:
30 Doradus (30 Dor)
Baksan Neutrino Observatory (BNO)
IMB
International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE)
Kamioka Observatory
multi-messenger astronomy (MMA)
neutrino (ν)
neutrino observatory
supernova designator
supernova remnant (SNR)
TXS 0506+056

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