Dust Survives Obliteration in Supernova 1987A - Animation

Artist's concept illustrating Supernova 1987A as the powerful blast wave passes through its outer ring and destroys most of its dust, before the dust re-forms or grows rapidly. Observations from NASA and DLR's SOFIA reveal that dust — a building block of stars and planets — can re-form or grow immediately after the catastrophic damage caused by the blast wave.