This 1994 image from the Hubble Space Telescope is of the site around Supernova 1987A. It shows a ring of dust and gas that has been ejected from the surface of a dying star. Albert Jones was one of the co-discoverers of this famous supernova, which first became visible in February 1987. A supernova is evidence of the death throes of a massive star, in this case one which exploded about 170,000 years ago. It had taken that long for light from the exploding star to reach earth.
Using this item
Hubble Space Telescope
Reference:
NASA, P. Challis, R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and B. Sugerman (STScI)
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