SN 1006: Historys Brightest Supernova
Explanation:
Suddenly, in the year 1006 AD, a
new star appeared in the sky.
Over the course of just a few days, the rogue star
became brighter than the planet
Venus.
The star, likely the talk of everyone who could see it,
was recorded by people who lived in areas now known as
China,
Egypt,
Iraq,
Italy,
Japan, and
Switzerland.
The celestial newcomer, now known to be a
supernova,
took months to fade.
Modern observations have now been used to measure the speed of the
still-expanding
shock wave,
allowing a better estimate of its
distance and hence a better estimate of the
true brightness of the
supernova.
It turns out
SN 1006 likely achieved an apparent visual
magnitude of -7.5, making it the brightest
supernova on record.
The shock wave was imaged in 1998 from
CTIO
(left panel), and then subtracted from a similar
image taken in 1986 (right panel), highlighting the
relative expansion.
Tomorrow's picture: Sun Burst
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
