00:03when a star dies it goes supernova sending out massive amounts of light and debris and back in
00:101987 astronomers captured an image of one named sn 1987a as it was in that process showing the
00:17bright light and cloud of stellar dust being pushed out into the cosmos however that was 36
00:23years ago and now we have the james webb space telescope and recently nasa turned its finely
00:28tuned instruments towards that very supernova once again this is sn 1987a now the event is happening
00:35only 168 000 light years away meaning it's the second closest supernova ever detected this is
00:42the first time we've seen it in such great detail on the near-infrared wavelength one of james webb's
00:47specialties it's giving astronomers an unprecedented view at every part of its hourglass structure one
00:52that appears circular due to our top-down viewing angle the middle clump of dust experts speculate
00:57obfuscates what is now a neutron star however the dust cloud is so dense not even the james webb
01:02telescope can see through to its center the bright ring around it is thought to emerge when ejecta
01:07from the supernova comes into contact with material that was already shed during the star's death throes
01:11slamming together at great speeds causing it to superheat the new image also revealed something
01:16never before seen by human eyes an inner crescent ring one that could either be an outer layer of
01:21hot gas ejected by the explosion or simply an optical illusion
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