Telescope observed remnants of supernova 1987AA nearby star that exploded in 1987 and is visible to the naked eye from Earth.

Scientists have long suspected that the star’s core has collapsed into a neutron star, but they had no direct evidence. Now, using Webb’s advanced instruments, they have detected signatures of high-energy radiation coming from the center of the supernova debris, indicating the presence of a compact object that emits photons and ionizes the surrounding gas.

• Neutron stars are some of the most mysterious and extreme objects in the universe.
• They have a mass comparable to that of the Sun, but are squeezed into a sphere only a few kilometers in diameter.
• They have tremendous gravity, magnetic fields and rotation speeds. They are also very difficult to observe because they are so faint and often obscured by dust and gas.

The discovery of the neutron star in supernova 1987A is a major achievement for Webb, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. It will help scientists test and improve their models of stellar evolution and supernova explosions.

It will also open new ways to study the physics of neutron stars and exotic phenomena such as pulsars, magnetars and gravitational waves.