On february 23, 1987, an unprepossessing star called Sanduleak -69°202, which had sat without incident in the southern skies for eons, suddenly blew itself to bits in the most spectacular supernova to be seen in nearly three centuries. SN1987A, as Sanduleak was now designated, was the closest supernova to our solar system ever to be observed with modern telescopes, and it offered astronomers an unparalleled view of the death of a massive star. It also gave them dramatic, unequivocal confirmation of what by then had become the "classic" theory of supernova explosions. There was only one problem. Something fundamental was missing from SN1987A. Nine years later, it's still missing.
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