Post by glactus on Feb 4, 2009 10:54:28 GMT
kepler's remnant
SN 1604, also known as Kepler's remnant, was a supernova which occurred in the Milky Way constellation Ophiuchus.
As of 2007, it is the last supernova to have been unquestionably observed in our own galaxy, occurring no farther than about 20,000 light-years from Earth.
Visible to the naked eye, it was brighter at its peak than any other star in the night sky, and all the planets (other than Venus), with apparent magnitude −2.5.
The supernova was first observed on October 9, 1604 by The German astronomer Johannes Kepler and was subsequently named after him.
No further supernovae have since been observed with certainty in the Milky Way, though many others outside our galaxy have been seen.
The remnant resulting from this supernova is considered to be one of the "prototypical" objects of its kind, and is still an object of much study in astronomy.
Credits: This is a NASA/Hubble image