Chandra Release - Feb 23, 2021 Supernova 1987A This image of Supernova 1987a uses an inset picture to reveal the magnification of an object located deep inside another, larger, object. The larger object is a ring of gas and dust identified by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. With mottled colors ranging from dark red to white-orange, it resembles a ring of fire or hot coals. Data collected by Chandra as well as the NuSTAR mission suggests that a pulsar wind nebula swirling around a neutron star is at the center of the mottled ring. In the magnified inset, a close up of the center of the supernova, is an illustration of the nebula. This swirling purple nebula resembles an oil-slick floating on dark water. At the nebula’s core is a brilliant white sphere: the neutron star. The magnetic field of this exceedingly dense object is represented by a series of thin purple hoops. These hoops loop through the poles of the neutron star. The poles are marked by a representation of the pulsar’s light: an extended teal-blue midline which cuts through the neutron star along its polar axis.