Starry Records: Historical Supernova Quiz

The 1054 AD event was so bright it was visible in daylight for 23 days. Today, we see the remains of this explosion as the Crab Nebula. It is one of the most studied objects in the sky because it provides a precise timeline for how supernova remnants expand and evolve over nearly a millennium.

Ancient astronomers used the term "guest star" to describe any celestial object that appeared where none existed before. While they distinguished them from comets by their lack of a "tail" and fixed position against the background stars, the sudden arrival of both types of objects often prompted omens or state records.

Tycho Brahe observed a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia that was brighter than Venus. By proving it had no parallax, he demonstrated it was much further away than the Moon, shattering the Aristotelian idea that the celestial realm was eternal and immutable.

Johannes Kepler tracked the 1604 event for over a year. It appeared in the constellation Ophiuchus and was the last time a supernova was clearly visible to the naked eye within our galaxy. Its records provide vital data on the light curves of Type Ia explosions before the invention of the telescope.

Supernovae were global events. Chinese court astronomers kept the most systematic records, but the 1006 AD supernova (the brightest in recorded history) was documented by observers in Egypt, Iraq, Switzerland, and Japan. Some scholars also believe North American rock art depicts these "new stars."

Based on the lack of a remaining pulsar and the environment of the remnant, scientists believe SN 1006 was a Type Ia explosion. Its incredible brightness—enough to cast shadows at night—suggests it was a thermonuclear detonation of a white dwarf relatively close to Earth.

Occurring in the Large Magellanic Cloud (a satellite galaxy), SN 1987A was the closest supernova observed since 1604. It allowed modern telescopes to detect neutrinos and confirm the theory that core-collapse supernovae produce heavy elements and neutron stars.

By matching the coordinates in ancient star charts with modern X-ray and radio maps, astronomers can find the exact clouds of debris created by these historical explosions. This allows us to measure exactly how fast the gas has expanded over hundreds or thousands of years.

Historical data provides a "start date" for the life of a remnant. By knowing an explosion happened in 1054 AD, we can calculate the current velocity of the debris. These records also reveal that supernovae occur in our galaxy roughly every 50 to 100 years, even if we haven't seen one recently.

The "new star" appeared in the distinct 'W' shape of Cassiopeia. Because it was so high in the northern sky, it was visible to many European observers. Tycho's detailed book, De Nova Stella, gave us the word "nova," which we still use today to describe brightening stars.

Accounts from the Song Dynasty in China record that the star was "visible by day, like Venus" and "shone for twenty-three days." This level of detail helps modern scientists estimate the peak luminosity and energy output of the explosion that created the Crab Nebula.

In 1968, astronomers found a rapidly pulsing radio source at the heart of the 1054 AD remnant. This proved that the "guest star" was a Type II supernova that crushed the star's core into a city-sized ball of neutrons spinning 30 times per second.

SN 1006 reached a peak magnitude of -7.5, which is roughly sixteen times the brightness of Venus. It was widely recorded across the world, including by the Persian physician Ibn Sina, who described it as a stationary object that changed colors and eventually faded away.

For a long time, the 1181 AD event was a mystery. Recently, astronomers identified a strange, fan-shaped nebula called Pa 30 as the remnant. It contains a "zombie star" (a white dwarf that survived a partial explosion), providing a rare look at a Type Iax supernova.

Medieval European philosophy was dominated by the idea that the heavens were perfect and unchanging. Consequently, "new" stars were often ignored, dismissed as atmospheric phenomena, or poorly recorded. Chinese court astronomers, however, viewed the sky as a mirror of the empire and meticulously recorded every change.

Just like sound reflects off a wall, light from explosions that happened hundreds of years ago is currently bouncing off distant clouds of gas. By catching these "echoes," modern telescopes can analyze the spectrum of the original historical explosion as if it were happening today.

Tycho titled his work "De Nova Stella" (Concerning the New Star). While we now know these are actually the deaths of old stars rather than the birth of new ones, the name stuck. We now distinguish between "novae" (surface explosions) and "supernovae" (total stellar destruction).

Kepler observed the object for 535 days until it became too faint to see with the naked eye. His meticulous recording of the fading brightness allowed modern astronomers to reconstruct its light curve, confirming it was a Type Ia supernova caused by a white dwarf.

[Image showing a multi-wavelength view of a supernova remnant] SNRs do not contain new stars; they are the "graveyards" of dead ones. They are characterized by shockwaves that heat the interstellar medium, emitting radiation across the spectrum and seeding the galaxy with elements like iron, oxygen, and silicon.

A famous pictograph in Chaco Canyon shows a crescent moon next to a ten-pointed star. Calculations show that on July 5, 1054, the moon was in that exact position relative to the supernova. While not definitive, it suggests that Indigenous peoples were careful observers of these dramatic cosmic events.