What supernova happened in 1987?
Table of Contents
SN 1987A
| Supernova 1987A is the bright star at the centre of the image, near the Tarantula nebula. | |
|---|---|
| Event type | Supernova |
| Date | February 24, 1987 (23:00 UTC) Las Campanas Observatory |
| Constellation | Dorado |
| Right ascension | 05h 35m 28.03s |
How long did the 1987 supernova last?
The titanic supernova, called Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A), blazed with the power of 100 million suns for several months following its discovery on Feb. 23, 1987. Since that first sighting, SN 1987A has continued to fascinate astronomers with its spectacular light show.
When was the last human supernova?
October 9, 1604
The most recent supernova to be seen in the Milky Way galaxy was SN 1604, which was observed on October 9, 1604. Several people, including Johannes van Heeck, noted the sudden appearance of this star, but it was Johannes Kepler who became noted for his systematic study of the object itself.
When did the supernova in 1987 actually occur?
February 23-24, 1987
The explosion occurred 160,000 years ago, on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud – a nearby dwarf galaxy. The light of the explosion – traveling at 186,000 miles per second (300 million meters per second) – finally reached Earth on February 23-24, 1987.
How was the supernova SN 1987A unusual?
How was the supernova SN 1987A unusual? it originated with a blue supergiant, neutrinos from the explosion were observed on Earth, and it is the only supernova for which the precursor star is known.
Is 1987A still visible?
The strikingly bright shock waves from a massive star explosion first observed in 1987 can still be seen today, three decades later. This brilliant star explosion, called Supernova 1987A, occurred only 160,000 light-years from Earth in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way known as the Large Magellanic Cloud.
What was the brightest supernova ever recorded?
SN2016aps
A mammoth star explosion known as SN2016aps, which occurred in a galaxy about 3.6 billion light-years from Earth, is the brightest supernova ever seen, a new study reports.
What is a blue giant star?
In astronomy, a blue giant is a hot star with a luminosity class of III (giant) or II (bright giant). In the standard Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, these stars lie above and to the right of the main sequence.