dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (10/10/85)
The last naked-eye supernova in recorded history was first seen on today's date in 1604. More about it -- when we come back. October 10 Kepler's Star On today's date in the year 1604, a sky watcher saw a bright new star in the constellation Ophiuchus. He hurried to the home of Johannes Kepler, the respected mathematician and astronomer. When he heard about the new star, Kepler thanked the man -- but didn't believe him. But when Kepler looked himself, he did see a strange thing in Ophiuchus -- a conspicuous new star! That star is now known as Kepler's star because he continued to study it until it faded from view several months later. It's thought that Kepler's star was a supernova, an outburst of light that signals a cataclysmic stellar explosion. Although supernovae are predicted to be common in our galaxy, only a handful have been seen in recorded history. The last one in the Milky Way was Kepler's star, nearly four centuries ago. To Kepler and thousands of years of astronomers before him, these bright supernovae were new stars. Today's we've learned that these stars aren't new at all -- instead, they're old. A supernova is simply a very massive star, explosively engaged in the process of dying. In 1604, the concept of star death was unheard-of. The heavens were thought to be unchanged from everlasting to everlasting, and thus the new star was an unthinkable mystery. Some considered it an astrological sign. But Kepler thought the new star really was new -- and that it was ignited as a sign of the will of God. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin
nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (10/14/85)
>But when Kepler looked himself, he did see a strange thing in Ophiuchus >-- a conspicuous new star! That star is now known as Kepler's star >because he continued to study it until it faded from view several >months later. It's thought that Kepler's star was a supernova, an >outburst of light that signals a cataclysmic stellar explosion. >Although supernovae are predicted to be common in our galaxy, only a >handful have been seen in recorded history. The last one in the Milky >Way was Kepler's star, nearly four centuries ago. I thought that there wereradio sitings of supernovae in our galaxy, but because they weren't near enough to earth, they couldn't be seen. -- James C. Armstrong, Jnr. {ihnp4,cbosgd,akgua}!abnji!nyssa I'll keep an eye on the old man, he seems to have a knack for getting himself into trouble! -who said it, what story?
ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac) (10/16/85)
> > I thought that there wereradio sitings of supernovae in our galaxy, but > because they weren't near enough to earth, they couldn't be seen. > -- > James C. Armstrong, Jnr. {ihnp4,cbosgd,akgua}!abnji!nyssa Supernova remnants are large regions of disturbed and heated gas, roughly spherical (very roughly) and sometimes shell-like. They are often very conspicuous in the radio. They mark the location of supernovae that have gone off in the last few tens of thousands of years. -- "Superior firepower is an Ethan Vishniac important asset when {charm,ut-sally,ut-ngp,noao}!utastro!ethan entering into ethan@astro.UTEXAS.EDU negotiations" Department of Astronomy University of Texas