1987a Supernova

1987a Supernova (also known as SN 1987a) is a supernova system on the edge of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is approximately 5.4 kiloparsecs from Earth (167,885 light years)

As it's name suggests, it was discovered in 1987 by Ian Shelton and Oscar Duhalde in the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. On March 4th 1987 it was observed by the largest ultraviolet space telescope of that time, named Astron.

It is located in the constellation Dorado with a right ascension of 05h 35m 28.03s and it is the closest recorded supernova since the invention of telescopes.It is close enough to be visible to the naked eye but still outrageously far away. It is the closest observed supernova since SN 1604, which actually occurs in the Milky Way.

The "A" in the name comes from the fact that it was the first supernova discovered in 1987. The progenitor type is B3 supergiant,which has surface temperatures of 30,000-50,000 K