Three Rings of Gas Surround Supernova 1987A

This Hubble Space Telescope image, taken in February 1994 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, shows the full system of three rings of glowing gas surrounding supernova 1987A. Located in a small galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, the supernova is a massive star that exploded in about 165,000 BC, but its light didn't arrive here until February 1987.