The James Webb Space Telescope has provided one of the most detailed views yet of the stunning supernova remnant SN 1987A, created from a destructive explosion.
One of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud, is famous as the host of the nearest supernova to Earth in recent history. Supernova SN 1987A occurred when a massive star ran out of fuel and collapsed at the end of its life, setting off an enormous explosion that threw out a shock wave so powerful it reshaped the dust and gas around it for millions of miles in every direction.
This image of SN 1987A was taken using Webb’s NIRCam instrument, and it shows a central keyhole-shaped structure full of dust and gas that was thrown off by the dying star as it came to the end of its life. While Webb’s infrared instruments are useful for looking through dust to reveal structures beneath, in the very center of the remnantm the dust is so dense that even infrared light cannot penetrate it, hence the dark clump in the very center.
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