It was noted by Chinese and Japanese astronomers, however. There are fewer records of supernova SN 1181, which occurred in the constellation Cassiopeia just over a century after SN 1054. At its peak, the luminosity of SN 1054 may have been four times as bright as Venus, and it remained visible in daylight for 23 days and was visible in the night sky for 653 days. This explosion appeared in the constellation of Taurus, where it produced the Crab Nebula remnant. It may also have been recorded, along with other supernovae, by the Ancestral Puebloans in present day New Mexico as a four pointed star shaped petroglyph. Supernova SN 1054 was another widely observed event, with astronomers recording the star's appearance in 1054 CE. Modern astronomers have discovered the faint remnant of this explosion and determined that it was only 7,100 light-years from the Earth. Egyptian astrologer Ali ibn Ridwan gave the brightness of this star as one-quarter the brightness of the Moon. It may also have been noted in France, Syria, and North America. This was the brightest recorded star ever to appear in the night sky, and its presence was noted in China, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Japan and Switzerland. The supernova SN 1006 appeared in the southern constellation of Lupus during the year 1006 CE. Over a span of about 2,000 years, Chinese astronomers recorded a total of twenty such candidate events, including later explosions noted by Islamic, European, and possibly Indian and other observers. However these have not yet been associated with a supernova remnant, and so they remain only candidates. Additional unconfirmed supernovae events may have been observed in 369 CE (unlikely SN ), 386 CE (unlikely ), 437 CE, 827 CE and 902 CE. In 393 CE, the Chinese recorded the appearance of another 'guest star', SN 393, in the modern constellation of Scorpius. It was also recorded in the Book of the Later Han, which told the history of China from 25 to 220 AD. The gaseous shell RCW 86 is suspected as being the remnant of this event, and recent X-ray studies show a good match for the expected age. SN 185 may have also possibly been recorded in Roman literature, though no records have survived. These observations are consistent with the appearance of a supernova, and this is believed to be the oldest confirmed record of a supernova event by humankind. It was observed to sparkle like a star and did not move across the heavens like a comet. In the year 185 CE, astronomers recorded the appearance of a bright star in the sky, and observed that it took about eight months to fade from the sky. The earliest possible recorded supernova, known as HB9, could have been viewed and recorded by unknown Indian observers in 4500 ☑000 BCE. Successful models of supernova behavior have also been developed, and the role of supernovae in the star formation process is now increasingly understood. These occurrences provide important information on the distances of galaxies. Since the development of the telescope, the field of supernova discovery has expanded to other galaxies.

All earlier proposals for supernova observations are speculations with many alternatives. The known history of supernova observation goes back to 1006 CE. The Crab Nebula is a pulsar wind nebula associated with the 1054 supernova.

Skychart this week