R. Wesson

In 1987, astronomers spotted a supernova in a neighboring galaxy, so close that the blast could be studied for decades. Now, the ALMA radio telescope, perched high in the Chilean Andes, has allowed us to look inside the remnant and create a three-dimensional map of its molecules.

Thirty-six years ago, a star exploded in a neighboring galaxy. The flash was named Supernova 1987A, and since then it has been monitored almost every year. Now the James Webb Space Telescope has looked at its remnant in the mid-infrared — the part of the spectrum where dust and heated gas glow.