Bang: The Supernova of 1987

AUG 01, 1987

A stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud has ended a four‐century‐long vigil for a nearby event and started the new field of neutrino astronomy.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881081

David Helfand

February was a great month for physics. The subject of high‐ $T_{c}$ Superconductors exploded as labs around the world pushed the transition temperature for a variety of compounds above 77 K. The Reagan Administration announced its support for the Superconducting Super Collider as a major investment to push back the frontiers of particle physics. And on 23 February, astronomers ended a 383‐year vigil as a naked‐eye supernova blazed forth in the southern sky. (See figure 1.)

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More about the authors

David Helfand, Columbia University.