SN 1987A has been observed with a combined high energy γ-ray (50-500 MeV) and hard X-ray (15-150 keV) payload during a balloon flight on 5 April 1988 from Alice Springs, Australia. The γ-ray observations, along with our earlier ones on 19 April 1987 are the only such observations of the supernova to date. The γ-ray detector characteristics are described. The preliminary results of the recent flight and their implications in terms of the known supernova parameters are discussed.

The research now under way with the real-time 275 km Parkes-Tidbinbila interferometer is used as a guide to the initial science to be undertaken with the 319 km Australia Telescope (AT) Long Baseline Array. On the other hand, it is risky to guess at the new science likely to be attempted with the 6 km AT Compact Array at Culgoora; instead the potential that has been built into this array is discussed and a selection of basic questions in astrophysics is posed as a guide to significant science that might yield to new observers on a fresh instrument under the southern skies. In conclusion two questions are probed: Can discoveries be made by users of national facilities? Does the AT cross into new domains in the phase space of observations?

Sir William Herschel and his sister, Caroline, had swept the skies over England as members of the court of George III. They had made amazing discoveries: a new planet in our solar system, the movement of the solar system with respect to the fixed stars, and hundreds of new nebulae and star clusters.

Then Sir William’s son John swept the southern skies from Cape Town, South Africa (1834 to 1838), mapping and sketching many more stars and nebulae.

We summarise recent developments in modelling SN 1987A including the progenitor’s evolution, explosive nucleosynthesis, optical, X- and γ-ray light curves, and dust formation. The distribution of heavy elements in the ejecta is inferred from the light curves. The pre-peak optical light curve as well as early emergence of X- and γ-ray indicate the mixing of 56Ni into the hydrogen-rich envelope. The plateau-like peak of the optical light curve is well reproduced if hydrogen is mixed into the deep core. The flat X-ray light curve observed by Ginga would be due to the clumpy structure of the core. The progenitor’s blue-red-blue evolution and nitrogen abundance suggest that the progenitor’s hydrogen-rich envelope had mass Menv = 7 − 11 M⊙ and was almost completely mixed.

This conference has shown that the accumulated wealth of data on SN 1987A has enabled us to learn an unprecedented amount of physical information about a single supernova event and supernovae in general, as well as to confirm much of the heretofore established theory. While some difficult problems remain, I discuss some particularly simple and useful theoretical notions concerning the bolometric and γ-ray light curves which can be gleaned from our current body of knowledge, drawing primarily upon results of analytic work performed by W.D. Arnett and myself. Also, the work of Lamb, Melia and Loredo (1987) on neutrinos from the supernova is discussed briefly.

SN 1987A has illuminated a great diversity of astrophysical processes – from neutrino emission during core collapse to the structure of the interstellar medium on a scale of hundreds of parsecs. Here I cover the evolution of SN 1987A from the outside in; the topics are interstellar light echoes, circumstellar light echoes, circumstellar shock waves, late emission and structure of the ejecta, and the effects of a central neutron star.

In the first part the UV and optical observations of the circumstellar gas of SN 1987A are reviewed, and the physical properties of the gas discussed. In the second part models of the emission are treated, as well as their use as a diagnostic of the radiation from the supernova during the first, unobserved hours after the explosion.

The exceptional brightness of SN 1987A has provided a unique opportunity to probe intervening gas clouds in the disk and halo of our Galaxy and in the Large Magellanic Cloud, as well as intergalactic matter between the two. At the AAO we have exploited this opportunity in two ways: in searches for very weak interstellar features requiring exceptionally high signal-to-noise ratio spectra, and in recording known interstellar lines with unprecedentedly high spectral resolution. We are also monitoring photographically the evolution of the light-echoes to map the three-dimensional distribution of interstellar matter near the supernova. Surprisingly high column densities of million-degree gas have been found in the LMC through the first detection of [Fe X] in absorption. The hot gas may fill the interior of a ‘superbubble’, created by the combined effects of previous supernovae in this active region of star-formation; this cavity may be related to the shells of interstellar matter giving rise to the light-echoes. The ultra-high resolution observations, which required the rapid construction of a dedicated new spectrograph, were successful in resolving the hyperfine structure of the sodium D lines in several interstellar clouds. This implies that the clouds are at temperatures of at most 170 K and have internal turbulent velocities of no more than 0.3 km s−1, even though some are moving with high velocities relative to the Sun.

The influence of the progenitor’s stellar wind on the supernova event, and subsequent development of a remnant are discussed. Various morphological differences between SN remnants and the implications for previous wind activity are described. A detailed look at the effects in the ring nebula NGC 6888 is presented.