The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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This image shows the patch of the sky surrounding the remnant of supernova remnant 1987A as seen in three different bands at high X-ray energies with ESA’s Integral. Titanium-44 is only present in the central image, which spans the 65–82 keV energy range. The panel on the left is based on data collected in the 48–65 keV band, whereas the panel on the right is based on data collected in the 82–99 keV band. The presence of signal corresponding to the position in the sky of SNR 1987A only in the energy range between 65 keV and 82 keV demonstrates that the signal does arise from emission at the specific wavelengths unique to the radioactive decay of Ti-44, at 67.9 keV and 78.4 keV.
Also seen in the field of view are two other bright sources of high-energy emission, the black hole binary known as LMC X-1 and the pulsar PSR B0540-69.