The remnant of supernova 1987A and its pulsar

3D ModelNoAI

On February 23, 1987 the night sky from the Earth’s southern emisphere was enriched by a supernova (SN 1987A), the explosion of a massive star 168,000 light-years away. The model shows the 3D spatial distribution of the absorbing cold ejecta (in white at the center of the remnant) and the X-ray emission (the red/yellow ring) derived from a 3D MHD model of SN 1987A. The center of the explosion and the position of a pulsar produced after the SN are indicated with bright spots at the center of the scene. The transparent image passing through the center of the remnant is a composite showing optical (Hubble), radio (Alma) and X-ray (Chandra) observations of the remnant. The panel on the right is a zoom of the center of the remnant, showing an artist’s view of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN).

MHD simulation performed with the PLUTO code

References: Orlando et al. 2020, A&A 636, id.A22

Credits: INAF/OAPA; SN 1987A image NASA/ESA/ESO Hubble/Alma/Chandra