SN 1054

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**Supernova SN 1054**
Observation data (Epoch ?)
The Crab Nebula, remnant of SN 1054. Credit: NASA/ESA.
Supernova type	Type II
Remnant type	Nebula
Host Galaxy	Milky Way
Constellation	Taurus
Right ascension	5^h 34.5^m
Declination	+22^o 01'
Galactic coordinates	G.184.6-5.8
Discovery Date	1054
Peak magnitude (V)	-6
Physical characteristics
Progenitor	Unknown
Progenitor type	Unknown
Colour (B-V)	Unknown
Notable features

SN 1054 (Crab Supernova) was a supernova that was widely seen on Earth in the year 1054. It was recorded by Chinese and Arab astronomers as being bright enough to see in daylight for 23 days and was visible in the night sky for 653 days.^[1] It was likely a Type II supernova.

There is also evidence the Mimbres and Anasazi Native Americans saw and recorded SN 1054. ^[2]

It has also been claimed that an obscure entry in a number of Irish monastic annals originally referred to SN 1054 but was subsequently corrupted, becoming in the process an allegorical fantasy based on the legend of the Antichrist (see External links below).

The cloudy remnants of SN 1054 are now known as the Crab Nebula, also referred to as Messier 1 or M1; being the first Messier Object catalogued in 1774. X-rays from this object were detected in April 1963 with a high-altitude rocket of type Aerobee with an X-ray detector developed at the Naval Research Laboratory; the X-ray source was named Taurus X-1, and the energy emitted in X-rays by the Crab nebula is about 100 times more than that emitted in the visual light.

On November 9, 1968, a pulsating radio source, the Crab Pulsar, was discovered in M1 by astronomers of the Arecibo Observatory 300-meter radio telescope in Puerto Rico. The pulsar rotates 30 times per second.