Discovery of an unusual hard X-ray source in the region of supernova 1987A

• DOI: 10.1038/330230a0
• Publication Date: 2003-06-12T21:41:17Z
• Authors: T. Dotani; K. Hayashida; H. Inoue; M. Itoh; K. Koyama; F. Makino; K. Mitsuda; T. Murakami; M. Oda; Y. Ogawara; S. Takano; Y. Tanaka; A. Yoshida; K. Makishima; T. Ohashi; N. Kawai; M. Matsuoka; R. Hoshi; S. Hayakawa; T. Kii; H. Kunieda; F. Nagase; Y. Tawara; I. Hatsukade; S. Kitamoto; S. Miyamoto; H. Tsunemi; K. Yamashita; M. Nakagawa; M. Yamauchi; M. J. L. Turner; K. A. Pounds; H. D. Thomas; G. C. Stewart; A. M. Cruise; B. E. Patchett; D. H. Reading
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

We have discovered a new hard X-ray source near supernova 1987 A, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, from the X-ray astronomy satellite Ginga. The present error box of 0.2° × 0.3° includes the supernova. The energy spectrum is very hard above 10 keV and unusual for any of the known classes of X-ray source. The flux in the range 10–30 keV as of 2–3 September is ˜5×10–11ergcm–2 s–1. The source intensity increased steadily throughout July, August and early September, but an observation in late September revealed no further increase. The positional agreement, a steady brightening and an unusual hard spectrum support the identification of the source as SN1987A.