The birth of a Supernova remnant

This image displays a "spectral image" of SN1987A, the supernova that exploded 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It was obtained using the medium resolution spectroscopic mode of ISAAC with a 2 arcsec wide slit and the grating centred close to the HeI emission line at 1.083 µm (1083 nm). The orange bands above and below the SN are due to stars.