page_title: SN 1987A
section_title: Neutron star
hierarchical_section_title: SN 1987A / Neutron star
caption_attribution_description: English: This new image of the supernova remnant SN 1987A was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in January 2017 using its Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Since its launch in 1990 Hubble has observed the expanding dust cloud of SN 1987A several times and this way helped astronomers to create a better understanding of these cosmic explosions. Supernova 1987A is located in the centre of the image amidst a backdrop of stars. The bright ring around the central region of the exploded star is composed of material ejected by the star about 20 000 years before the actual explosion took place. The supernova is surrounded by gaseous clouds. The clouds’ red colour represents the glow of hydrogen gas. The colours of the foreground and background stars were added from observations taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2).
context_page_description: SN 1987A was a type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth and was the closest observed supernova since Kepler's Supernova. 1987A's light reached Earth on February 23, 1987, and as the earliest supernova discovered that year, was labeled "1987A". Its brightness peaked in May, with an apparent magnitude of about 3.
  It was the first supernova that modern astronomers were able to study in great detail, and its observations have provided much insight into core-collapse supernovae.
  SN 1987A provided the first opportunity to confirm by direct observation the radioactive source of the energy for visible light emissions, by detecting predicted gamma-ray line radiation from two of its abundant radioactive nuclei. This proved the radioactive nature of the long-duration post-explosion glow of supernovae.
  For over thirty years, the expected collapsed neutron star could not be found, but in 2019 it was announced found using the ALMA telescope.
context_section_description: SN 1987A appears to be a core-collapse supernova, which should result in a neutron star given the size of the original star. The neutrino data indicate that a compact object did form at the star's core.  Since the supernova first became visible, astronomers have been searching for the collapsed core. The Hubble Space Telescope has taken images of the supernova regularly since August 1990 without a clear detection of a neutron star.
  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.
caption: The bright ring around the central region of the exploded star is composed of ejected material.[17]
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "This new image of the supernova remnant SN 1987A was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in January 2017 using its Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Since its launch in 1990 Hubble has observed the expanding dust cloud of SN 1987A several times and this way helped astronomers to create a better understanding of these cosmic explosions. Supernova 1987A is located in the centre of the image amidst a backdrop of stars. The bright ring around the central region of the exploded star is composed of material ejected by the star about 20 000 years before the actual explosion took place. The supernova is surrounded by gaseous clouds. The clouds\u2019 red colour represents the glow of hydrogen gas. The colours of the foreground and background stars were added from observations taken by Hubble\u2019s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2).", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2017:02:22 13:20:55"}