Supernova SN 1006 in two historic Yemeni reports

Rada, W. S.; Neuhäuser, R.

doi:10.1002/asna.201412152

Cited by 10 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(24 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Muslim dates run from one evening to the next evening, and a month starts with the evening of the first sighting of the crescent of a new moon. It was confirmed in Rada and Neuhäuser () that the conversion of 1 Sha c bān 396h to AD 1006 May 2/3 is correct when considering the first observation of the crescent (and also regarding the given weekday). In general, unless more information is available, the conversion from the calculated Islamic calendar to the Julian or Gregorian calender has an uncertainty of some 2 days due to (a) uncertainty in the start of the Hijra era (1 day), (b) uncertainty as to which months and years in history had one extra day (in addition to 354 days in 12 lunar months—given that a synodic month is not exactly 29.5 days), and (c) uncertainty as to when the new crescent moon was sighted first (e.g., Neuhäuser & Kunitzsch, ; Spuler, ; Spuler & Mayr, ).…”

Section: Introduction: Sn 1006mentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Most recently, Rada and Neuhäuser () presented two more Arabic reports on SN 1006 in both Arabic and English translation, by the Yemeni historians al‐Yamānī and Ibn al‐Dayba c . An English translation of the latter text was first presented in SG02 quoting private communication with one of us (W.R.).…”

Section: Arabic Text(s) Of Sn 1006 From Yemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An English translation of the latter text was first presented in SG02 quoting private communication with one of us (W.R.). In Rada and Neuhäuser (), the dating of the observations is discussed in detail.…”

Section: Arabic Text(s) Of Sn 1006 From Yemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SN 1006 is believed to have taken place on AD 1006 April 30 or earlier (see Rada & Neuhäuser, ) in the constellation of Lupus with the following basic parameters: The distance is 2.18 ± 0.08 kpc from the proper motion of ejecta in mas/year and the shock velocity of filaments in km/s (Winkler, Gupta, & Long, ); The extinction is A V = 0.32 ± 0.03 mag (Schaefer, from various techniques) or A V = 0.31 ± 0.10 mag (Winkler et al, ) from the reddening of the very blue sub‐dwarf (Schweizer & Middleditch, ) showing strong, broad absorption lines due to the SNR, so that it is located in the background at 1.05–2.1 kpc (Burleigh, Heber, O'Donoghue, & Barstow, ) to 1.5–3.3 kpc (Schweizer & Middleditch, ). The peak apparent brightness is −7.5 ± 0.4 mag from distance for an SN type Ia (Winkler et al, ). The apparently young SNR G327.6+14.6 was identified as its remnant (Gardner & Milne, ; Reynolds, Lyutikov, Blandford, & Seward, ). …”

Section: Introduction: Sn 1006mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Interpretation of the historic Yemeni reports of supernova SN 1006: Early discovery in mid‐April 1006?

Neuhäuser

Neuhäuser²,

Rada

et al. 2017

Astron Nachr

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recently published Yemeni observation report about SN 1006 from al‐Yamānī clearly gives AD 1006 April 17 ± 2 (mid‐Rajab 396h) as the first observation date. Since this is ∼1.5 weeks earlier than the otherwise earliest reports (April 28 or 30) as discussed so far, we were motivated to investigate an early sighting in more depth. We searched for additional evidences from other areas like East Asia and Europe. We found that the date given by al‐Yamānī is fully consistent with other evidence, including the following: (a) SN 1006 rose several times half an hour after sunset (al‐Yamānī), which is correct for the location of Ṣancā' in Yemen for the time around April 17, but it would not be correct for late April or early May. (b) The date (third year, third lunar month, 28th day wuzi, Ichidai Yoki) for an observation of a guest star in Japan is inconsistent (there is no day wuzi in that lunar month), but may be dated to April 16 by reading a wuwu date rather than a wuzi date. (c) There is observational evidence that SN 1006 was observed in East Asia in early or mid‐April; for the second half of April, a bad weather (early monsoon) period is not unlikely— there is a lack of night reports. (d) The observer in St. Gallen reported to have seen SN 1006 for 3 months, which must have ended at the very latest on AD 1006 July 10, given his northern location, so that his observations probably started in April. We conclude that the correctly reported details give quite high confidence in the fully self‐consistent report of al‐Yamānī, so that the early discovery date should be considered seriously.

show abstract

Section: Introduction: Sn 1006mentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Arabic Text(s) Of Sn 1006 From Yemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Arabic Text(s) Of Sn 1006 From Yemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction: Sn 1006mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Interpretation of the historic Yemeni reports of supernova SN 1006: Early discovery in mid‐April 1006?

Neuhäuser

Neuhäuser²,

Rada

et al. 2017

Astron Nachr

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It showed a great turbulence (al-Yamānī from Yemen, Rada & Neuhäuser 2015), it was not round, but rather was elongated; at its edges were [lines like] fingers. It showed a great turbulence (Ibn al-Dayba c from Yemen, Rada & Neuhäuser 2015). These apparent elongations are due to very strong scintillation of a very bright object (−7.5 mag).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“A red cross appeared in the sky” and other celestial signs: Presumable European aurorae in the mid AD 770s were halo displays

Neuhäuser¹,

Neuhäuser²

2015

Astron Nachr

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The interpretation of the strong 14 C variation around AD 775 as one (or several) solar super-flare(s) by, e.g., Usoskin et al. (2013) is based on alleged aurora sightings in the mid AD 770s in Europe: A red cross/crucifix in AD 773/4/6 from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, inflamed shields in AD 776 (both listed in the aurora catalogue of Link 1962), and riders on white horses in AD 773 (newly proposed as aurora in Usoskin et al. 2013), the two latter from the Royal Frankish Annals. We discuss the reports about these three sightings in detail here. We can show that all three can be interpreted convincingly as halo displays: The red cross or crucifix is formed by the horizontal arc and a vertical pillar of light (either with the Sun during sunset or with the moon after sunset); the inflamed shields and the riders on white horses were both two mock suns, especially the latter narrated in form of a Christian adaptation of the antique dioscuri motive. While the latter event took place early in AD 774 (dated AD 773 in Usoskin et al. 2013), the two other sightings have to be dated AD 776, i.e. anyway too late for being in connection with a 14 C rise that started before AD 775. We also sketch the ideological background of those sightings and there were many similar reports throughout that time. In addition, we present a small drawing of a lunar halo display with horizontal arc and vertical pillar forming a cross for shortly later, namely AD 806 June 4, the night of full moon, also from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; we also show historic observations of halo phenomena (mock suns and crosses) from G. Kirch and Hevelius -and a modern photograph.

show abstract

An Arabic report about supernova SN 1006 by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)

2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present here an Arabic report about supernova 1006 (SN 1006) written by the famous Persian scholar Ibn Sīnā (Lat. Avicenna, AD 980-1037), which has not been discussed in astronomical literature before. The short observational report about a new star is part of Ibn Sīnā's book called al-Shifā', a work on philosophy including physics, astronomy, and meteorology. We present the Arabic text and our English translation. After a detailed discussion of the dating of the observation, we show that the text specifies that the transient celestial object was stationary and/or tail-less (a star among the stars), that it remained for close to 3 months getting fainter and fainter until it disappeared, that it threw out sparks, that is, it was scintillating and very bright, and that the colour changed with time. The information content is consistent with the other Arabic and non-Arabic reports about SN 1006. Hence, it is quite clear that Ibn Sīnā refers to SN 1006 in his report, given as an example for transient celestial objects in a discussion of Aristotle's Meteorology. Given the wording and the description, for example, for the colour evolution, this report is independent of other reports known so far.

show abstract

Supernova SN 1006 in two historic Yemeni reports

Cited by 10 publications

References 18 publications

Interpretation of the historic Yemeni reports of supernova SN 1006: Early discovery in mid‐April 1006?

Interpretation of the historic Yemeni reports of supernova SN 1006: Early discovery in mid‐April 1006?

“A red cross appeared in the sky” and other celestial signs: Presumable European aurorae in the mid AD 770s were halo displays

An Arabic report about supernova SN 1006 by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About