SupernovaIn 1181, a supernova was observed by Chinese astronomers in the constellation now known as Cassiopeia, and noted one day later from Japan. Ancient records of Chinese court astronomers reported“a guest star appearing in k'uei invading the Ch'uan-she-hsing”and that it remained visible for 185 days (over 6 months). A supernova remnant, now named 3C58, found by radio astronomers in the 1960s, was first proposed to be the remnant of the supernova 1181 by F. Richard Stephenson. The associated radio and X-ray pulsar rotates sedately at about 15 times per second. Stephenson wrote in 2006 that this supernova is one of only five temporary stars observed in the past 1500 years that have been confidently identified.«[Image: four-day X-ray observation of 3C58 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, shown in pseudo colour with red representing low energy X-rays and blue for high energy.] |
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