Light echoes from SN 1987A

In this image, taken with NTT and EMMI, light echoes from supernova SN 1987A are seen as two concentric rings around the bright star. Since the outburst of SN 1987A, light echoes have been used as an efficient way of studying the structure of the interstellar medium close to the supernova. SN1987A, detected in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, was the closest explosion of this kind for several centuries, the first visible by naked-eye for 383 years and definitely an event of the greatest relevance in modern astronomy. ESO telescopes have been observing this object for more than twenty years.

More information in ESO Messenger 67, p37