Observers caught these stars going supernova
Massive stellar explosions created these luminous, expanding shells of gas and dust
![illustration of supernova 1987A](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/021817_scivis_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
STELLAR SHREDS Thirty years ago, astronomers witnessed a nearby stellar explosion (illustrated above), but it wasn’t the first. Humanity has been recording local supernovas for nearly two millennia.
ALMA (ESO, NAOJ, NRAO), Alexandra Angelich (NRAO, AUI, NSF)