The evolution of SN 1987A

H-alpha image captured by the NTT, at La Silla Observatory, on 1 December 1991, almost five years after the explosion. The image clearly shows an inner oval nebula as well as outer filaments. During the months following the explosion SN 1987A reached a remarkable maximum magnitude 3, and during the following years displayed various interesting phenomena which had never been observed before. SN 1987A is located in the South-West of the Tarantula Nebula, a huge star formation region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This supernova is one of the most studied objects in modern astronomy and ESO telescopes have played a major role in this campaign.

More information in ESO Messenger 66, p34-35:

http://www.eso.org/sci/publications/messenger/archive/no.66-dec91/messenger-no66.pdf