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| | Supernova 1054 - Creation of the Crab Nebula |
 | | On July 4, 1054 A.D., Chinese astronomers noted a "guest star" in the constellation Taurus; Simon Mitton lists 5 independent preserved Far-East records of this event (one of 75 authentic guest stars - novae and supernovae, excluding comets - systematically recorded by Chinese astronomers between 532 B.C. and 1064 A.D., according to Simon Mitton). |
 | | These two dates, July 4, 1054, and April 17, 1056, indicate that the "guest star" was visible to the naked eye for 653 days, at least from China. |
 | | The Supernova 1054 was later also assigned the variable star designation CM Tauri, a designation which is sometimes also used for the (optical) Crab pulsar. |
| www.seds.org /messier/more/m001_sn.html (879 words) |
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