Historical Records of Supernovae

Abstract

The absence of any definite sightings of supernovae in our own galaxy in the telescopic era heightens the importance of historical accounts of these events. However, early records cite a wide variety of “new stars”: some moving, others stationary; some of large angular size, others starlike; some of unknown or very short duration, others visible for many months. Hence, in attempting to identify potential supernovae among such a miscellany of temporary stars, a priority is to define a set of selection criteria. On this basis, only five new stars (appearing in AD 1006, 1054, 1181, 1572, and 1604), can be confidently rated as supernovae. In each case, there is a wide variety of convincing evidence which can be utilized to establish the supernova nature of these objects and reliably identify their present-day remnants. Historical sources of pre-telescopic astronomical observations are diverse: these largely originate from Babylon, East Asia (mainly China, but also Japan and Korea), the Arab regions, and Europe. East Asian history is replete with reports of a wide variety of celestial phenomena, and they are the main source of observations of Galactic supernovae. In general, Arab astronomers appear to have had little interest in new stars and were more concerned with eclipses and other cyclical phenomena. However, several Arab chroniclers gave vivid accounts of the brilliant supernova of AD 1006. Not until the Renaissance do we find much European interest in stellar outbursts, but the appearance of the bright supernovae of AD 1572 and 1604 inspired astronomers such as Tycho Brahe and Kepler to make extensive observations of these stars with unparalleled accuracy.