.This photo, launched on Feb. 24, 2017, shows Supernova 1987a (facility) surrounded by impressive red clouds of gas and dirt within the Huge Magellanic Cloud. This supernova, initial uncovered on Feb. 23, 1987, blazed with the power of one hundred million Suns. Since that very first sighting, SN 1987A has continued to captivate stargazers with its exceptional light show. Situated in the close-by Huge Magellanic Cloud, it was the closest supernova explosion monitored in centuries and also the best possibility however for stargazers to examine the phases before, during, and also after the fatality of a superstar.Graphic credit: NASA, ESA, R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Facility for Astrophysics and Gordon as well as Betty Moore Groundwork), and M. Mutchler as well as R. Avila (STScI).