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Published online 15 May 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.827

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Milky Way's youngest supernova found

Remnants of 140-year-old stellar explosion are located close to our galaxy's centre.

Rachel Courtland

Astronomers have released baby pictures of the youngest supernova yet discovered in the Milky Way.

The images, taken in X-ray and radio wavelengths, reveal the expanding remnants of a star that exploded close to the centre of the Galaxy a mere 140 years ago.

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  • Supernova 1987a is 21 years old with a clear line of sight. Nobody has located its remnant - neutron star or black hole. It is not quite in the Milky Way (50,000 ly-radius), Sanduleak having been 51.4 kparsecs distant, but when did empirical reality ever impact NASA anamorphosis?

    • 15 May, 2008
    • Posted by: Unknown

  • SN1897a is in another galaxy. That means not ours. The article is correct.

    • 15 May, 2008
    • Posted by: Jean Turner