News Archive

A team of astronomers led by the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) has succeeded in observing the death throes of a giant star in unprecedented detail.

In February 1987, astronomers observing the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy, noticed the sudden appearance of what looked like a new star.

In fact they weren't watching the beginnings of a star but the end of one, and the brightest supernova seen from Earth in four centuries since telescopes were invented.

By next morning news of the discovery had spread around the globe and southern hemisphere stargazers began watching the aftermath of the enormous stellar explosion, known as a supernova.

In the 25 years since then, the remnant of Supernova 1987A has continued to be a focus for researchers the world over, providing a wealth of information about one of the Universe's most extreme events.

In research published yesterday in the Astrophysical Journal , a team of astronomers in Hong Kong and Australia - including from The University of Western Australia - have succeeded in using the Australia Telescope Compact Array, a CSIRO radio telescope in NSW, to make the highest resolution radio images of the expanding supernova remnant at millimetre wavelengths.

Full story is available at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).

Media references

Professor Lister Staveley-Smith (ICRAR - UWA Deputy Director)  (+61 8)  6488 4550  /  (+61 4) 25 212 592
Dr Giovanna Zanardo ( ICRAR - UWA PhD Candidate)  (+61 8)  6488 7755  /  (+61 4) 14 531 081
Kirsten Gottschalk ( Media Contact ICRAR)  (+61 8)  6488 7771  /  (+61 4) 38 361 876
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783