Sky position, distance and size
SN 1987A is placed at J2000 RA 5.6 h, Dec -69.3° at 168,000 light-years, with a bright-shell diameter of 1.3 light-years.
EpochJ2000
Space Time
Supernova remnant · evidence and sources
SN 1987A
The nearest observed supernova of the telescopic era, now driving a shock into its equatorial ring.
Also known as SN1987A, Supernova 1987A.
Catalog
Position basis, the same label the app shows on the selection card.
Every aspect, with its origin
One record per aspect. The origin says what kind of thing each value is; the source says where it came from; the limit says what it cannot tell you.
ObservedCatalogComputedReconstructedIllustrativeUndocumented
Adopted distance and size
The model is scaled to a bright-shell diameter of 1.3 light-years at 168,000 light-years, the values published with the source model.
LimitDistance estimates for remnants differ between methods; the page uses the value adopted by the model's authors.
Published 3D reconstruction
The fly-in shows the published NASA / Chandra observation-derived ring geometry mesh, placed at the remnant's sky position and scaled to the listed diameter. It is an authored scientific visualisation built from observations, not a tomographic map of the gas.
LimitThe single-colour source mesh is tinted for legibility; brightness and colour are not calibrated.
What is not measured
- Appearance: a reconstruction from measurements, not a direct observation. Published 3D reconstruction. The single-colour source mesh is tinted for legibility; brightness and colour are not calibrated.