Skyatnightmagazine.com July 02, 2026 • 08:29

Ancient texts described a strange object in the sky. Astronomers have just worked out what it was - BBC Sky at Night Magazine

By Chris Lintott

Ancient texts described a strange object in the sky. Astronomers have just worked out what it was - BBC Sky at Night Magazine

A 'new star' in an ancient, 12th century poem by Ibn Sanā' al-Mulk could be a reference to a supernova that appeared in 1181.

For astronomers, it's a source of quite some frustration that the last time we observed a supernova in our own Milky Way Galaxy way back in 1604 no one had a telescope to point at it.
Often, we have… [+3795 chars]

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