26-June-2005, 07:18 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,289
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by mickal555
Well that'll me
M1- the crab nebula, it was a supernova and it was recorded in 1054 by the chinese I think...
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I like this description of imagining what seeing M1 would have been like. It would have been cool-this "Guest Star."
Quote:
In the year 1054 A.D. headlines around the world could have read, "Brilliant New Star Appears in Taurus!" There is little question about it. This would have been the news of the day. People everywhere would have been getting up early in the morning during the month of July to gaze toward the northeast. It would have been especially impressive on the morning of July 4 or 5--which of the two dates would have depended on which side of Earth you lived on--for the brilliant star would have been near the crescent moon: a spectacular sight for any eyes.
Imagine watching it slowly rise on that morning in July. Having heard about it, you sit upon a boulder and wait. First one star, then another come into view. The thin crescent Moon rises, and still you wait. Finally, in a burst that takes your breath away, there it is, unbelievably radiant, next to the waning crescent Moon! Indeed, it drowns the Moon with it much greater brilliance. Watching it rise, you realize that you have literally been holding your breath as the splendid object moved upward. Such a dazzling gem never before had been seen in the sky.
It has been estimated that the star was 50,000 times brighter than the planet Venus, even 40 times brighter than the combined light of the full Moon. Morning after morning you would have watched it: the Moon would have cycled out of view, but the new star would have remained, rising earlier each morning, getting dimmer as days passed. "What is it," you would have wondered, along with everyone else who saw it. No one at that time could have explained it.
Today, we know it was a supernova, a star that literally exploded, blowing itself asunder. Although it appeared in Earth's sky in 1054 A.D., the star actually exploded at least 6,000 years earlier, for its distance is about 6,000 light years away. Light burst through space, moving 6 trillion miles each year, to reach wondering eyes on Earth about 840 years ago. Today, with large telescopes, we see an energetic cloud of debris, once a star, expanding into space.
Full page:
http://www.clarkfoundation.org/astro...rabnebula.html
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Seds.org M1
George's question:
In the early days of spectroscopy, what was the dominant element in which stars were made according to mainstream astronomers? What woman astronomer took ridicule for suggesting hydrogen?
C-Munch answered:
I'm thinking Helium, but I have no idea. No idea about the woman either.
And, yeah, I'm pretty sure that Arneb is referring to M1.
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Sunset
Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.
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