A new star, likely the brightest supernova [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in recorded human history [
http://www.seds.org…], appeared in planet Earth's sky about 1,000 years ago today, in 1006 AD. The expanding debris cloud [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] from the stellar explosion is still visible to modern [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] astronomers, but what did the supernova look like in 1006? In celebration of the millennial anniversary of SN1006, astronomer Tunc Tezel offers this intriguing suggestion, based on a photograph he took on February 22, 1998 from a site overlooking the Mediterranean [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] south of Antalya, Turkey. On that date, bright Venus and a waning crescent Moon shone in [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] the early morning sky. Adopting calculations [
http://arxiv.org/ab…] which put the supernova's apparent brightness [
http://www.noao.edu…] between Venus and the crescent Moon, he digitally superposed an appropriate new star in the picture. He placed the star at the supernova's position in the southerly constellation of Lupus [
http://www.seasky.o…sky7b06.html#Lupus ] and used the water's reflection of moonlight [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the final image.
Explanation
A new star, likely the brightest supernova [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in recorded human history [
http://www.seds.org…], appeared in planet Earth's sky about 1,000 years ago today, in 1006 AD. The expanding debris cloud [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] from the stellar explosion is still visible to modern [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] astronomers, but what did the supernova look like in 1006? In celebration of the millennial anniversary of SN1006, astronomer Tunc Tezel offers this intriguing suggestion, based on a photograph he took on February 22, 1998 from a site overlooking the Mediterranean [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] south of Antalya, Turkey. On that date, bright Venus and a waning crescent Moon shone in [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] the early morning sky. Adopting calculations [
http://arxiv.org/ab…] which put the supernova's apparent brightness [
http://www.noao.edu…] between Venus and the crescent Moon, he digitally superposed an appropriate new star in the picture. He placed the star at the supernova's position in the southerly constellation of Lupus [
http://www.seasky.o…sky7b06.html#Lupus ] and used the water's reflection of moonlight [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the final image.
Explanation
