Supernovae

Heavy stars and pairs of orbiting stars (which constitute a relevant fraction of the stars we observe) may end their lives in an explosion, called “supernova". A supernova close enough to Earth is a spectacular event: it can appear as a new astronomical object as bright as Venus, or even more, visible for several months. Only seven supernovae seen with the naked eye in the Milky Way are documented in the history of humankind; the last one, in 1604—the six previous ones had been recorded in the years 185, 393, 1006, 1054, 1181, 1572—, impacted the history of astronomy and cosmology. The appearance of a new star—today we know that it is instead a dying star—surprised astronomers and astrologers. Scientists with different conceptions of the Universe competed and collaborated to explain its nature and origin, studying its astrological signals; among them Galilei and Kepler, but also Arab, Chinese, and Korean astronomers.