SN 1987A

core-collapse supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud

168,000 light-years from Earth

In 1987 a blue supergiant's core collapsed in under a second. The flash lit up rings the star shed 20,000 years earlier; then the blast hit them. Replayed on a loop.

• blue supergiant, ~20 solar masses
• the rings are gas it shed ~20,000 years ago

kind

star · explosion or collision