Last colour photo before the supernova explosion in LMC

Last colour photo before the supernova explosion in LMC. This colour photo of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) was obtained with a 6 x 6 camera mounted piggy-back on a large telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory, on February 23 at UT 01:00, a few hours before the supernova exploded. It is the last colour photo obtained before this event. Comparing this photo with a similar one obtained two days later, and which shows the supernova reveals a faint star at the position of the supernova; it is the progenitor Sanduleak -69 202, a 12th magnitude B3 I star.

Credit:

ESO

Over de afbeelding

Id:eso8705d
Type:Observatie
Publicatiedatum:3 maart 1987
Gerelateerde berichten:eso8705
Grootte:1767 x 1383 px

Over het object

Naam:LMC
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Irregular
Afstand:170000 lichtjaren
Categorie:Galaxies

Image Formats

Grote JPEG
737,1 KB