So the weather here has been horrible. Storm after storm with no good nights to get out. This afternoon I will be putting together the 14" and 17.5 inch dobs and doing a full upkeep and a full collimation on them. I may video or take pictures and share a post on that. I'll start by using my Catseye tools and then move to the Howie Glatter tools to confirm. That is always a fun afternoon or evening!
During this week and a half of bad weather, I've invested a lot of time reading up on the nine recorded supernova's that have been seen in the last 1000 years or so. There are nine that are recorded:
Historical supernovae in the Local Group
I have been reading a variety of articles and thought that I would share them here. Wikipedia gives a good description of each of these and you can go to this LINK and click on each one to get the details on them.
This paper, A Brief Review of Historical Supernova (2021) LINK is a good place to start to learn about these events.
The Remnant and Origin of the Historical Supernova 1181 AD LINK. This is a wonderful article that reviews the evidence of which supernova remnant is the remnant for SN 1181 A. It has a nice finder chart showing where this SN occurred and where PA 30 the remnant is located:
This article LINK How Tycho Brahe's recordings in 1572 support SN 1572 as a type I(a) supernova reviewing his observations and how they played such an important and often overlooked role in the context of the development of stellar evolution as a scientific endeavor. Tycho Brahe's detailed descriptions helped astronomers to link the SN 1572 to other previous supernova that occurred in the Milky Way.
Here is another article I studies, Discovery of an Exceptional Optical Nebulosity in the Suspected Galactic SN Iax Remant Pa 30 Linked to the Historical Guest Star of 1181 CE LINK
Over on CloudyNights there was a thread on what Betelgeuse would look like in the night sky when it goes supernova. So taking these historical supernova in Stellarium, I brought them up so we could see what they look like. Most accounts mention color changing and being seen and in some instances comparing the Guest Star to the planets. It seems certain that as a SN fades, it's colors fade and red is often mentioned. However, during brightening, it tends to display a range of colors. Here are images I took from Stellarium that show how the SN's listed above looked. Some have a wide view and some are zoomed in.
My one takeaway, is yes, the supernova is bright, very bright but it still looks like a star, just a very bright star. I will bypass SN185 because it occurred in Centaurus and was not visible from my location.
This is SN 386A which appeared in April to May in 386 (in Sagittarius) and lasted for 3 months. It is felt this could have been a Type II Supernova or it may have been a classical nova. Recent studies give the more precise type as core-collapsed Type cIIb/Ibc.
2. SN 393 in Scorpius.
A guest star appeared within the asterism Wěi during the second lunar month of the 18th year of the Tai-Yuan reign period, and disappeared during the ninth lunar month.
— Shen Yue, Song Shu
The second lunar month mentioned in the record corresponds to the period 27 February to 28 March 393 CE, while the ninth lunar month ran from 22 October to 19 November 393 CE. The bowl-shaped asterism named Wěi is formed by the tail of the modern constellation Scorpius. This asterism consists of the stars in Scorpius designated ε, μ, ζ, η, θ, ι, κ, λ and ν. The guest star reached an estimated apparent magnitude of −1 and was visible for about eight months before fading from sight, whose lengthy duration suggests the source was a supernova. However, a classical nova is not excluded as possibility.
Supernova Remnant, RX J1713.7-3946 is considered the most likely match for this SN. However a slow classical nova also may have cause this.
3. SN 1006 in Lupus. LINK
SN 1006 was a supernova that is likely the brightest observed stellar event in recorded history, reaching an estimated −7.5 visual magnitude, and exceeding roughly sixteen times the brightness of Venus. Appearing between April 30 and May 1, 1006, in the constellation of Lupus, this "guest star" was described by observers across China, Japan, modern-day Iraq, Egypt, and Europe, and was possibly recorded in North American petroglyphs. Some reports state it was clearly visible in the daytime. Modern astronomers now consider its distance from Earth to be about 7,200 light-years or 2,200 parsecs.
I do think Stellarium does a good job on showing how bright this SN was!
4. SN1054 in Taurus. LINK
SN 1054 is a supernova that was first observed on c. 10 July [O.S. c. 4 July] 1054, and remained visible until c. 12 April [O.S. c. 6 April] 1056.[2]α
The event was recorded in contemporary Chinese astronomy, and references to it are also found in a later (13th-century) Japanese document and in a document from the Islamic world. Furthermore, there are a number of proposed references from European sources recorded in the 15th century, as well as a pictograph associated with the Ancestral Puebloan culture found near the Peñasco Blanco site in New Mexico, United States. The pyramids at Cahokia in the midwestern United States may have been built in response to the supernova's appearance in the sky.
The remnant of SN 1054, which consists of debris ejected during the explosion, is known as the Crab Nebula. It is located in the sky near the star Zeta Tauri (ζ Tauri). The core of the exploding star formed a pulsar, called the Crab Pulsar (or PSR B0531+21). The nebula and the pulsar that it contains are some of the most studied astronomical objects outside the Solar System. It is one of the few Galactic supernovae where the date of the explosion is well known. The two objects are the most luminous in their respective categories. For these reasons, and because of the important role it has repeatedly played in the modern era, SN 1054 is one of the best known supernovae in the history of astronomy.
5. SN 1181 Type Iax Cassiopeia LINK
First observed between August 4 and August 6, 1181, Chinese and Japanese astronomers recorded the supernova now known as SN 1181 in eight separate texts. One of only five supernovae in the Milky Way confidently identified in pre-telescopic records, it appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia and was visible and motionless against the fixed stars for 185 days. F. R. Stephenson first recognized that the 1181 AD "guest star" must be a supernova, because such a bright transient that lasts for 185 days and does not move in the sky can only be a galactic supernova.
Chandler has great info on this Supernova and Remnant at this LINK
Often called the Dandelion Nebula, this image from Chandra shows why:
Before 2013, the only plausible conventional supernova remnant in the old historical area for the supernova was the supernova remnant 3C 58. However research has shown that pulsar in 3C 58 is offset from the center of 3C 58, implying an age of ~3700 years, although it is possible to be substantially younger if its transverse velocity happens to be high. The pulsar spin-down age is 5380 years. The neutron star cooling age is >5000 years. With these age estimates, 3C 58 is much too old a remnant to be associated with SN 1181.
The possible sky position of the 1181 supernova has been revised to include additional information on the proximity of the "guest star" to adjacent Chinese constellations, resulting in a greatly smaller error region.[17] This improved region does not contain 3C 58, because the guest star does not have proximity to two constellations as reported. So SN 1181 is not associated with 3C 58. Rather, this new small region contains Pa 30, which is independently known to be a ~800 year old supernova remnant.
6. SN 1572 Cassiopeia LINK Type Ia
SN 1572 (Tycho's Star, Tycho's Nova, Tycho's Supernova), or B Cassiopeiae (B Cas), was a supernova of Type Ia in the constellation Cassiopeia, one of eight supernovae visible to the naked eye in historical records. It appeared in early November 1572 and was independently discovered by many individuals.
Its supernova remnant has been observed optically but was first detected at radio wavelengths. It is often known as 3C 10, a radio-source designation, although increasingly as Tycho's supernova remnant.
The appearance of the Milky Way supernova of 1572 belongs among the most important observation events in the history of astronomy. The appearance of the "new star" helped to revise ancient models of the heavens and to speed on a revolution in astronomy that began with the realisation of the need to produce better astrometric star catalogues, and thus the need for more precise astronomical observing instruments. It also challenged the Aristotelian dogma of the unchangeability of the realm of stars.
The supernova of 1572 is often called "Tycho's supernova", because of Tycho Brahe's extensive work De nova et nullius aevi memoria prius visa stella ("Concerning the Star, new and never before seen in the life or memory of anyone", published in 1573 with reprints overseen by Johannes Kepler in 1602 and 1610), a work containing both Brahe's own observations and the analysis of sightings from many other observers. Comparisons between Brahe's observations and those of Spanish scientist Jerónimo Muñoz revealed that the object was more distant than the Moon.[4] This led Brahe to approach the Great Comet of 1577 as an astronomical body as well.
7. SN 1604 Ophiuchus LINK
SN 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, Kepler's Nova or Kepler's Star, was a Type Ia supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus. Appearing in 1604, it is the most recent supernova in the Milky Way galaxy to have been unquestionably observed by the naked eye, occurring no farther than 6 kiloparsecs (20,000 light-years) from Earth. Before the adoption of the current naming system for supernovae, it was named for Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer who described it in De Stella Nova.
Visible to the naked eye, Kepler's Star was brighter at its peak than any other star in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of −2.5. It was visible during the day for over three weeks. Records of its sighting exist in European, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic sources.
It was the second supernova to be observed in a generation (after SN 1572 seen by Tycho Brahe in Cassiopeia). No further supernovae have since been observed with certainty in the Milky Way, though many others outside the galaxy have been seen since S Andromedae in 1885. SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud was visible to the naked eye at night.
Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Cassiopeia and the brightest extrasolar radio source in the sky at frequencies above 1 GHz. The supernova occurred approximately 11,000 light-years (3.4 kpc) away within the Milky Way; given the width of the Orion Arm, it lies in the next-nearest arm outwards, the Perseus Arm, about 30 degrees from the Galactic anticenter. The expanding cloud of material left over from the supernova now appears approximately 10 light-years (3 pc) across from Earth's perspective. It has been seen in wavelengths of visible light with amateur telescopes down to 234 mm (9.25 in) with filters.
It is estimated that light from the supernova itself first reached Earth near the 1660s, although there are no definitively corresponding records from then. Cas A is circumpolar at and above mid-Northern latitudes which had extensive records and basic telescopes. Its likely omission in records is probably due to interstellar dust absorbing optical wavelength radiation before it reached Earth, although it is possible that it was recorded as a sixth magnitude star 3 Cassiopeiae by John Flamsteed. Possible explanations lean toward the idea that the source star was unusually massive and had previously ejected much of its outer layers. These outer layers would have cloaked the star and absorbed much of the visible-light emission as the inner star collapsed.
The top image shows in Stellarium with the supernova not showing. The bottom shows it showing, but very faint. I have observed and sketched this several times, with these two being the most recent:
Above fall, 2017.
November 2024.
9. SN Type Ia, remnant called G1 9+0.3 LINK (1890-1908)) in Sagittarius
G1.9+0.3 is a supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation of Sagittarius. It is the youngest-known SNR in the Milky Way, resulting from an explosion the light from which would have reached Earth some time between 1890 and 1908. The explosion was not seen from Earth as it was obscured by the dense gas and dust of the Galactic Center, where it occurred. The remnant's young age was established by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the VLA radio observatory. It was a type Ia supernova. The remnant has a radius of over 1.3 light-years.
G1.9+0.3 was first identified as an SNR in 1984 from observations made with the VLA radio telescope. Because of its unusually small angular size, it was thought to be young—less than about one thousand years old. In 2007, X-ray observations made with the Chandra X-ray Observatory revealed that the object was about 15% larger than in the earlier VLA observations. Further observations made with the VLA in 2008 verified increase in size, implying it is no more than 150 years old. A more recent estimate put its observable age at 110 years as of the data collection in 2008. That study also found that it was probably triggered by the merger of two white dwarf stars.
10. SN 1885 in Andromeda; Type Ia LINK
The supernova appears to have been seen first on August 17, 1885, by French astronomer Ludovic Gully during a public stargazing event. Gully thought it was scattered moonlight in his telescope and did not follow up on this observation. Irish amateur astronomer Isaac Ward in Belfast claimed to have seen the object on August 19, 1885, but did not immediately publish its existence.
The independent detection of the supernova by Ernst Hartwig at Dorpat (Tartu) Observatory in Estonia on August 20, 1885, however, was communicated in a telegram on August 31, 1885, once Hartwig had verified in more ideal circumstances that the feature was not caused by reflected moonlight. The telegram prompted widespread observations of the event, and prompted Isaac Ward, Ludovic Gully, and several others to publish their earlier observations (the first reports on S Andromedae appeared before Hartwig's discovery letter which followed his telegram, since the letter was initially lost by Astronomische Nachrichten and only reprinted in a later issue). The history of the discovery is summarized by K.G. Jones and de Vaucouleurs and Corwin.Both studies doubt that Ward really saw the event since his estimated magnitude is significantly off from the later reconstructed light curve, and conclude that Hartwig should be considered as the discoverer of the supernova.
SN 1885A reached magnitude 5.85 on 21 August 1885, and faded to magnitude 14 six months later. It was reddish in color and declined rapidly in brightness, which is unusual for type Ia supernovae. Some astronomers observed the spectrum of the star visually (no photographic spectral observations were made in that time). These observations were made at the limit of visibility, but they were considered to be in good agreement with each other and with modern data on typical supernovae of type Ia; SN 1885A has thus been assigned to this type. Studies led by Dovi Poznanski and by Hagai Perets suggest that SN 1885A belongs to a new subclass of Type I supernovae, along with SN 2002bj and SN 1939B.
11. SN 1987 A in Large Magellanic Cloud; LINK; Type II Supernova
SN 1987A was a type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs (168,000 light-years) from Earth and was the closest observed supernova since Kepler's Supernova in 1604. Light and neutrinos from the explosion reached Earth on February 23, 1987, and it was designated "SN 1987A" as the first supernova discovered that year. Its brightness peaked in May of that year, with an apparent magnitude of about 3, brighter than the constellation's brightest star, Alpha Doradus.
It was the first supernova that modern astronomers were able to study in great detail, and its observations have provided much insight into core-collapse supernovae. SN 1987A provided the first opportunity to confirm by direct observation the radioactive source of the energy for visible light emissions, by detecting predicted gamma-ray line radiation from two of its abundant radioactive nuclei. This proved the radioactive nature of the long-duration post-explosion glow of supernovae.
In 2019, indirect evidence for the presence of a collapsed neutron star within the remnants of SN 1987A was discovered using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope. Further evidence was subsequently uncovered in 2021 through observations conducted by the Chandra and NuSTAR X-ray telescopes.
SN 1987A was discovered independently by Ian Shelton and Oscar Duhalde at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile on February 24, 1987, and within the same 24 hours by Albert Jones in New Zealand.
Four days after the event was recorded, the progenitor star was tentatively identified as Sanduleak −69 202 (Sk -69 202), a blue supergiant. After the supernova faded, that identification was definitively confirmed, as Sk −69 202 had disappeared. The possibility of a blue supergiant producing a supernova was considered surprising,and the confirmation led to further research which identified an earlier supernova with a blue supergiant progenitor.
Some models of SN 1987A's progenitor attributed the blue color largely to its chemical composition rather than its evolutionary stage, particularly the low levels of heavy elements. There was some speculation that the star might have merged with a companion star before the supernova. However, it is now widely understood that blue supergiants are natural progenitors of some supernovae, although there is still speculation that the evolution of such stars could require mass loss involving a binary companion.
Here is Scott's finder chart he used in a 36" with OIII filter.
I'll definitely put this on the list to try, most likely next fall. If you want to see a video on how they amateur group discovered this, here is the LINK.
