[skykooler]

This star system is about 8000 light-years away. For comparison, in 1572 a different star, also about 8000 light-years away, was observed to go supernova. At its brightest, it was reported to be about as bright as Venus. This supernova would probably reach similar brightness levels.

[francisofascii]

Interesting story. You have to wonder if the "Christmas" star was a supernova like this one. It suddenly appears, becomes visible during the day for a few weeks, then slowly vanishes for about a year.

[macintux]

There was a sci-fi short story about this, in which a team of explorers found the Christmas star...and the remnants of the civilization which wiped out as a consequence.

[syntheticnature]

It was "The Star", by Arthur C. Clarke. Worth noting that the viewpoint character is a Jesuit priest.

https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf

[hardlianotion]

Never heard of it. Thanks!

[sizzzzlerz]

or, whether it actually happened. no other cultures with astronomical knowledge have ever been found to have reported on such a star ~2000 years ago. if there was a sighting visible in the med region, it was likely an asteroid or, possibly, Jupiter.

[francisofascii]

No other cultures? The Chinese recorded a "comet" in 5 BC that appeared for 70 days. Maybe the "comet" was a supernova. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B70...

[sizzzzlerz]

I saw that article. If you read a little further, the position of the comet couldn't have led the so-called wisemen to Bethleham (yet another apocryphal tale). So, still no other cultures.

[skykooler]

This reminds me of an interesting piece on what paths the wisemen would have taken if they followed a star continuously: https://what-if.xkcd.com/25/