Sanduleak -69 202

Sanduleak -69 202 (Sk -69 202, also known as GSC 09162-00821) was a magnitude 12 blue supergiant star, located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is notable as the progenitor of supernova 1987A. The star was originally charted by the Romanian-American astronomer Nicholas Sanduleak in 1970, but remained just a number in a catalogue until identified as the star that exploded in the first naked eye supernova since the invention of the telescope, when its maximum reached visual magnitude +2.8.

Sanduleak -69 202

Sanduleak -69 202 (Sk -69 202, also known as GSC 09162-00821) was a magnitude 12 blue supergiant star, located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is notable as the progenitor of supernova 1987A. The star was originally charted by the Romanian-American astronomer Nicholas Sanduleak in 1970, but remained just a number in a catalogue until identified as the star that exploded in the first naked eye supernova since the invention of the telescope, when its maximum reached visual magnitude +2.8.