SN 1987A fades

Image in continuum light of the surroundings of supernova SN 1987A, taken by the NTT, at La Silla Observatory, almost 5 years after the explosion was detected in the Large Magellanic Cloud. SN 1987A is the spot between the two brighter stars, belonging to the same multiple system. After reaching an impressive magnitude 3 at its maximum, the supernova had already faded to magnitude 18 by the time this image was captured. SN 1987A was the first naked-eye supernova to be seen in almost four hundred years and is one of the most studied objects in modern astronomy. ESO telescopes have played a major role in this campaign.

More information in ESO Messenger 66, p35:

http://www.eso.org/sci/publications/messenger/archive/no.58-dec89/messenger-no58.pdf