(Yes, I’m inundating you all with writing. It’s a busy week, and I still have a few more things forthcoming to share with you.)

Supernova remnant SNR 1987a, what’s left after a bright blue star exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud. [Credit: NASA/ESA/P. Challis and R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics]

Supernova 1987a was the death of a massive blue star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the satellite galaxies of our Milky Way. Because of its relative proximity and occurrence during the era of modern astronomy, the supernova remnant SNR 1987a (as it is known) is one of the best-studied of all. As a result, it provides a good testbed for the theory of star explosions. A new X-ray observation has measured the amount of radioactive titaniumcreated in the remnant, and showed it’s enough to power a lot of the light emission in the years following the supernova.


Radioactive titanium powers a supernova afterglow