Hard X-rays from supernova 1987A

Abstract On 10 August 1987, the HEXE instrument on the MIR-KVANT observatory ROENTGEN detected hard X-ray emission from the region of Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud in the 20–100 keV spectral band at a 10 standard deviation level. From then on SN 1987A became the main observation target. During the August observations of SN 1987A the PULSAR X-1 instrument detected a significant X-ray flux from the region of the Supernova in the 50–300 keV energy band. The HEXE data allowed an accurate localization of the hard X-ray source, and the calculated position coincides well with that of SN 1987A. Other well-known X-ray sources were outside the 3 σ-error box.