When supernova 1987A was seen to explode in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Milky Way's nearest companion galaxy, the brilliant flash of light from the self-destructing star had taken about 170,000 years to arrive. Some light was deflected by two sheets of dust near the supernova, and is seen after the star has faded away because the reflected light covers a longer path to reach us. The dust responsible for the rings seen here lies in two distinct sheets, about 470 and 1300 light years from the supernova, but close to our line of sight to it.

The picture was made by photographically subtracting negative and positive images of plates of the region taken before and after the supernova appeared. The only major difference between them is the light echo itself. However, the bright stars do not cancel perfectly and appear black, while in other, bright parts of the image, the photographic noise does not cancel either. The spectrum of the faint light echo mimics that to the supernova when it was at its brightest, in May, 1987.