中子星
A number of possibilities for the "missing" neutron star are being considered. The first is that the neutron star is enshrouded in dense dust clouds so that it cannot be seen. Another is that a [[pulsar]] was formed, but with either an unusually large or small magnetic field. It is also possible that large amounts of material fell back on the neutron star, so that it further collapsed into a [[black hole]]. Neutron stars and black holes often give off light as material falls onto them. If there is a compact object in the supernova remnant, but no material to fall onto it, it would be very dim and could therefore avoid detection. Other scenarios have also been considered, such as whether the collapsed core became a [[quark star]]. In 2019, evidence was presented that a neutron star was inside one of the brightest dust clumps close to the expected position of the supernova remnant. In 2021, evidence was presented that the hard X-ray emission from SN 1987A originates in the pulsar wind nebula. The latter result is supported by a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic model, which describes the evolution of SN 1987A from the SN event to the current age, and reconstructs the ambient environment around the neutron star at various epochs, thus allowing to derive the absorbing power of the dense stellar material around the pulsar.