Smoke rings around supernova 1987a

Detailed observations of the [Oiii]5007 Å emission from the elliptical rings around SN 1987A suggest a model wherein the two faint, outer rings are due to emission from two circular toroids moving outwards (at 25 km s^–1) along a bipolar cone centred on the site of the supernova. The brighter, central ring is expanding radially outward at 8.3 km s^–1. The rings must have been created 2-3 × 10⁴ years before the supernova explosion and are thought to be a consequence of the interaction of stellar winds emanating from the progenitor system during the final stages of its evolution to a supernova.