Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 August 8
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                              Dawn of the Crab
                Image and Text Credit: [3]Bradley E. Schaefer

   Explanation: One of the all-time historic skyscapes occured in July
   1054, when the [4]Crab Supernova blazed into the dawn sky. [5]Chinese
   court astrologers first saw the [6]Guest Star on the morning of 4 July
   1054 next to the star [7]Tianguan (now cataloged as [8]Zeta Tauri). The
   [9]supernova peaked in late July 1054 a bit brighter than Venus, and
   was visible in the daytime for 23 days. The Guest Star was so bright
   that every culture around the world inevitably discovered the supernova
   independently, although only nine reports survive, including those from
   China, [10]Japan, and [11]Constantinople. This iPhone picture is from
   [12]Signal Hill near Tucson on the morning of 26 July 2025, faithfully
   re-creates the year 1054 Dawn of the Crab, showing the sky as seen by
   [13]Hohokam peoples. The planet Venus, as a stand-in for the
   [14]supernova, is close to the position of what is now the [15]Crab
   Nebula supernova remnant. Step outside on a summer dawn with bright
   Venus, and ask yourself "What would you have thought in ancient times
   when suddenly seeing the Dawn of the Crab?"

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [31]Specific rights apply.
            [32]NASA Web Privacy, [33]Accessibility, [34]Notices;
                A service of: [35]ASD at [36]NASA / [37]GSFC,
                         [38]NASA Science Activation
                           & [39]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2508/CrabRecreation_2_1054Sky1024.jpg
   3. https://www.lsu.edu/physics/people/faculty/schaefer.php
   4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1054
   5. https://www.lehigh.edu/~dwp0/Assets/images/astroorigins.pdf
   6. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003LNP...598....7G/abstract
   7. https://www.star-facts.com/tianguan-zeta-tauri/
   8. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/zetatau.html
   9. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/supernova/en/
  10. https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/learn/home/dictio/shoseki/sadaie/
  11. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/18/archives/old-text-is-linked-to-1054-supernova-scientific-journal-tells-of.html
  12. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/signal-hill-petroglyphs.htm
  13. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hohokam-culture
  14. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003LNP...598..195P/abstract
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011227.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250807.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250808
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250809.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  35. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  38. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  39. http://www.mtu.edu/