A study looking at ancient texts may have found evidence of a galactic supernova in a poem praising Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, written between December 1181 and May 1182 CE. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

In October 1604, astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler spotted a new star in the sky and began tracking it. Over the course of several weeks, the star remained visible in the daytime and outshone Jupiter at night, before disappearing once more.

Kepler and other astronomers believed the event to be the birth of a star, but we now know that he was witnessing a Type Ia Supernova.

"Astronomers today classify supernovas according to their characteristics, and SN 1604 belongs to the group known a

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