Contact: Steve Koppes
s-koppes@uchicago.edu
773-702-8366
University of Chicago

'Wild Cousin' of Supernova 1987A

Caption: This composite image shows the central regions of the nearby Circinus galaxy, located about 12 million light years away. Data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is shown in blue and data from the Hubble Space telescope is shown in yellow, red, cyan and light blue. The blue source near the lower right hand corner of the image is the supernova SN 1996cr, that has finally beenidentified over a decade after it exploded.

Credit: Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/Columbia/F.Bauer et al); Optical (NASA/STScI/UMD/A.Wilson et al.)

Usage Restrictions: This image may be used by news organizations reporting the research findings of Vikram Dwarkadas and his co-authors regarding supernova 1996cr.

Related news release: A 'wild cousin' emerges from family tree of exploding stars