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Supernova - FAKED (tho everything else in the image is REAL!)

uploaded by cosmosjon May 15, 2008 at 01:56 am
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Supernova - FAKED (tho everything else in the image is REAL!) by cosmosjon on flickr.com

What would the Chinese Astronomers have seen on July 4, 1054 A.D., when the star that ultimately became the Crab Nebula, (M1) blew itself apart in a supernova explosion?

I created* this image from a photo I took in the Arizona desert, near Portal, Arizona... adding what I believe would have been a fair representation of how the scene would have appeared. Compare this shot with the adjacent, unaltered photo.

* I do a public astronomy program called "Spectacular Astronomy" that mentions the Chinese Astronomers and what they saw in 1054. I really wanted to show my audience what the scene may have looked like.

Tags: Arizona, NASA, Media, news, Astronomy, audio, Discovery, World, mountain, Sky, Night, Live, Teleconference, object, dark, ASTRONOMERS, GALAXY, nighttime, orion, major, streaming, announcement, supernova, celestial, Taurus, M1, Cosmos, jonathansabin, darkskies, greatnebula, crabnebula, chineseastronomers, 1054ad

Photo Properties

NP! ID: 965211

Title: Supernova - FAKED (tho everything else in the image is REAL!)

File Size: 4288 × 2848 – 2.84 MB

Created: Thu, 05/15/2008 - 1:56am

Modified: Thu, 05/15/2008 - 1:56am

File Type: image (jpeg)

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cosmosjon

at 02:00 on May 15th, 2008

The background image of the stars and Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona is real... I created the "supernova" in Photoshop in order to show what the Crab Nebula supernova may have looked like when witnessed by Chinese astronomers on July 4, 1054 A.D.

My image shows the exact location the supernova would have been seen, near the tips of one of the horns in the constellation of Taurus the Bull.