Supernova 1987A ring. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of a glowing ring of gas around the remnants of supernova 1987A. It is thought the ring is made up of gases ejected some 20,000 years before the central star ended its life in a supernova explosion in February 1987. The ring was illuminated by light from this explosion, but faded over time. Here, bright knots reveal that the shock wave from the explosion has reached the gas ring. Material travelling at over 60 million kilometres per hour is colliding with the gas, causing it to glow. Image taken on 2nd February 2000.