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Supernovae observed in the Milky Way:
Historical Supernovae

Similar to other galaxies (including the Messier galaxies), there occur supernovae in our Milky Way at irregular intervals of time.

If they are not too heavily obscurred by interstellar matter, they can be seen as very spectacular events in the sky. Unfortunately, though, none of them has been well visible since the invention of the telescope, although modern estimates predict that every few decades one supernova should occur in a galaxy like the Milky Way.

Here we list the supernovae (sometimes only candidates, indicated by question marks) which have been recorded through the history of humanity. 

Year    Date    Con      mag     Remnant    Observed/Comments


2241 BC ??       ?       -10                Dubiously listed in some source
 352 BC ?                                   Chinese; "first such record" according to Hellemans/Bunch
   4 BC spring  Aql                         Chinese
 185 AD         Cen       -2     G315.4-2.3 Chinese
 369 ?                                      Chinese
 386            Sgr              G11.2-0.3? Chinese
 393/396        Sco       -3     SNR 393    Chinese
 437 ?          Gem              Geminga?   Chinese?
 827 ?          Sco/Oph  -10
 902 ?          Cas        0
1006    Apr 30  Lup       -9+-1  SNR 1006   Arabic; also Chinese, Japanese, European
1054    Jul  4  Tau       -6     M1         Chinese, North American (?); also Arab, Japan
1181    Aug  6  Cas       -1     3C 58      Chinese and Japanese
1203 ?          Sco        0
1230 ?          Aql              Kes 75?    (see below)
1572    Nov  6  Cas       -4     Tycho SNR  Tycho Brahe's SN
1592 ?          Cet                         Korean; probably Nova
1592 ?          Cas                         Korean; probably Nova
1592 ?          Cas                         Korean; probably Nova
1604    Oct  9  Oph       -3     Kepler SNR Johannes Kepler's SN
1680? 1667?     Cas              Cas A      Flamsteed ? not seen ?
Key: Year/Date: Time of observation/occurrance, Con: Constellation, mag: estimated apparent magnitude in brightness maximum, Remnant: Identification of the supernova remnant

Restricting to the more or less safe supernova events, this table reduces significantly, most probably because of poor recording of our ancestors, to only 8 supernovae, one of which (185 AD) was even questioned recently: 

Year    Date    Con  RA      Dec    mag    Comment/SNR


 185 AD         Cen  14:43.1 -62:28 -2     (-6 mag acc. to Sky Catalog 2000)
                                           SNR: G315.4-2.3/RCW 86
 386            Sgr  18:11.5 -19:25        SNR: G11.2-0.3 (?)
 393/396        Sco  17:14   -39.8  -3     3 radio sources candidates for SNR
                                           SNR: G347.3-0.5 (?)
1006    Apr 30  Lup  15:02.8 -41:57 -9+-1  SNR: PKS 1459-41
1054    Jul  4  Tau  05:34.5 +22:01 -6     M1 (Crab Nebula)
1181    Aug  6  Cas  02:05.6 +64:49 -1     3C 58
1572    Nov  6  Cas  00:25.3 +64:09 -4     Tycho      
1604    Oct  9  Oph  17:30.6 -21:29 -3     Kepler     
1680? 1667?     Cas  23:23.4 +58:50 +6?    Cas A SN
Key: Year/Date: Time of observation/occurrance, Con: Constellation, RA/Dec: Right Ascension and Declination (2000.0) mag: estimated apparent magnitude in brightness maximum

Even for the 185 AD event, doubts have been brought up on its nature as a supernova (Chin and Huang, 1994).

A notable event with some similarity to a supernova occurred with the star Eta Carinae in 1843, when it brightened to mag -0.8 and became the second brightest star in the heavens after Sirius, although it is at the great distance of 10,000 light years.

Only two supernovae have been discovered in other galaxies of the Local Group: SN 1885 or S Andromedae in the Andromeda Galaxy M31, and SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud: 


1885    Aug 20  And  00:42.7 +41:16 +5.8   S And in M31
1987    Feb 23  Dor  05:35.4 -69:16 +2.9   SN 1987A in LMC

Remnants have been found of three further supernovae that have occured in recent centuries but have escaped detection and known records of observation: 

~Year   Con  RA      Dec     Comment/SNR
 AD


~1250   Aql  18:46.4 +02:59  SNR G29.7-0.3, Kesteven 75; 1230 from above?
~1300   Vel  08:52.0 -46:22  SNR G266.2-1.2, RX J0852.0-4622, "Vela jr."
~1870   Sgr  17:48.7 -27:10  SNR G1.9+0.3
A remnant of a supernova, cataloged as E0102-72, which probably has occurred about the 10th century A.D., was also found in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), but no records of this southern event have been detected so far: 

~1000   Tuc  01:04.0 -72:02  SNR E0102-72 in SMC

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  • Please report me any errors, remarks and comments related to this list !
    Hartmut Frommert
    Christine Kronberg
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    Last Modification: March 4, 2015