Around July 4, 1054, Chinese astronomers recorded a “guest star” that shone so brightly, it was visible in broad daylight for 23 days. The remnants of that long-ago supernova now form the Crab Nebula, ...

In 1054 CE, a new light blazed in the night sky, four times brighter than Venus. Chinese astronomers called it a “guest star,” but today we call it a supernova: the dying explosion of a massive star.

Thousands of years ago a star exploded in a supernova, leaving behind the glorious riot of colored gas we see now as the Crab Nebula. The light from this explosion reached Earth in 1054 A.D., creating ...

Astronomy is only possible as a field of study because the universe is so predictable. Just as plants and animals can be categorized into easily-identifiable species and families, stellar objects, too ...

The Crab Nebula has only been studied by astronomers for about 90 years but it is one of the few astronomical objects whose origin is documented in history. It is the remnant of an immense star, about ...

This multiwavelength image showcases many different details in the Crab Nebula. The remnant of a 1054 supernova, the Crab Nebula contains a large fraction of heavy elements and the process that ...

A worldwide team led by scientists at Las Cumbres Observatory has discovered the first convincing evidence for a new type of stellar explosion -- an electron-capture supernova. While they have been ...