The Supernova the Western World Didn't See
Almost 1000 years ago, Chinese astronomers observed a new star visible in the daytime sky, which they called a “guest star.” This supernova created what we now observe telescopically as the Crab Nebula. It is interesting that nowhere in Western Europe was this transient object recorded. Church dogma at the time declared the heavens to be eternal and unchanging, and it was much easier not to take notice than to be burned at the stake. Almost 500 years later, European astronomers had broken free enough of this dogma so that the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was able to record the next observable supernova in the galaxy.
Notes:
But was recorded in China. An explanation for why it wasn't seen in Europe is that observers would probably be burned at the stake.
Folksonomies: culture society astronomy dark ages
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Concepts:
Supernova (0.962272): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
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Nebula (0.675033): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Tycho Brahe (0.673566): dbpedia | freebase | yago
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People's Republic of China (0.555716): geo | website | dbpedia | yago
Neutron star (0.528379): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
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