A ring around SN1987A

Image of SN1987A obtained at different times in the near-infrared with ESO's telescopes. The two first images were taken with the 2.2-m telescope at La Silla with the IRAC instrument, 2468 and 2865 days, respectively, after the explosion. The third image, obtained in October 2006 or 7170 days after the explosion, was taken with the NACO Adaptive Optics instrument on Yepun, the fourth Unit Telescope of the Very Large Telescope at Paranal. NACO corrects for the blurring effect of the atmosphere, allowing to obtain images almost as good as if the telescope was placed in space.