The Last Exploding Star That Was Visible To The Naked Eye

Could we see a star explode with our own eyes? It is possible

A colored image of the remnants of Kepler’s supernova (Public domain)

In 1604, the light from a nearby exploding star finally made its way to Earth. The result was a blotch of light that appeared in the sky and remained in place for over eighteen months. At night, the area glowed like a bruise on the firmament and it was so bright that it was even visible during the day at its brightest. It was the most prominent example of a supernova ever witnessed by the naked eye on Earth.

The star did not explode in 1604, it likely exploded sometime around 18,000BCE when humans were still stuck deep within the last ice age. The star was 20,000 lightyears away and it took that long for the evidence of its demise to reach the Earth.

And it was well worth the wait.

An unmatched spectacle

Kepler’s drawing of the constellation where the supernova appeared (Public domain)

The supernova would become to be known as Kepler’s Star or Kepler’s Supernova (the term supernova did not come into the lexicon until much later) and it was observed by skywatchers the world over. Evidence of the supernova appears in Chinese, European, and Middle…