First Echoes from SN1987a…87a…87a

The first visible‐light echoes from supernova 1987a—in fact, the first ever observed from a supernova—have been detected. The echoes, visible in this photo as arcs of rings surrounding the central star, are the light of the exploding star reflected from dusty clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Although the clouds lie almost directly in our line of sight to the supernova, they are quite distant from the star. Arlin Crotts (University of Texas, Austin) reported finding a double echo on 4 March using the 40‐inch Swope telescope at the Carnegie Institution's Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Confirmation of Crorrs's report came a week later from Michael Rosa (European Southern Observatory), who examined data he had taken in February with ESO's 3.6‐meter relescope.