Chandra Release - May 15, 2012

Visual Description: SN 2010jl

 2010jl is a supernova that was discovered in 2010 in the galaxy UGC 5189A, located about 160 million light years away. The supernova is a large purple dot located near the top of the galaxy, surrounded by stars and other celestial objects. The structure of the galaxy resembles the shape of a cocoon, and is colored in dusty creams, browns and blues in small jewel-like structures, with brighter pops of purple sprinkled on top.  This composite image of UGC 5189A shows X-ray data from Chandra in purple and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope in red, green and blue.