20th anniversary of Supernova 1987A

Supernova 1987A with its rings of shocked gas. Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Challis and R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

Today is the 20th anniversary of Supernova 1987A. At Stockholm Observatory this supernova has been studied since the beginning (see for example the previous news items "Soon 20 years old and shocks more than ever" and "Shocks shed new light on supernova" from 2006). and as many as three Ph.D. theses have come from the supernova group on SN 1987A.

The latest issue of Forskning och Framsteg features an article that explains why this supernova is so interesting. On ESO's webpage there is a news article looking back on 20 years of observations of SN 1987A, with contributions from researchers at Stockholm Observatory. On NASA's HubbleSite the anniversary is celebrated with a news release.