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Astronomers find supernova first spotted in A.D. 185
September 26, 2006
By Jeanna Bryner
SPACE.com
(SPACE.com) -- Nearly 2,000 years ago, Chinese astronomers spotted a bright light materializing in the night sky. Turns out the skywatchers had witnessed the spectacular explosion of a dying star.
That was the year 185 AD. Tuesday astronomers said they might have identified the remains from this ancient stellar explosion, now considered the oldest supernova on record.
"I think it is very interesting that we can now say with some confidence, but not absolute certainty, that RCW 86 is the remnant of A.D. 185," said Jacco Vink of the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands.
In the Astrological Annals of the Houhanshu, Chinese astronomers noted the bright light in the sky twinkled like a star but didn't appear to move, arguing against the object being a comet. Within eight months, they recorded, the bright light faded, a phenomenon that astronomers now know is consistent with supernovas.
When a star that's more than eight times the mass of our sun burns out, gravity's inward tug tears apart the star's innards. It collapses and then rebounds.
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