The Mimbres' Plate: The Moon, and The Supernova of 1054

On July 4, 1054 until about April 26, 1056, a remarkable celestial event was observed and recorded for posterity by Chinese and Japanese observers - the appearance of a temporary star in the constellation today we know as Taurus. Nearly 700 years later, something else was discovered in the same location of that short-term visitor by a British amateur astronomer; a faint fuzzy object that became item number 1 on Charles Messier's famous list of 'non-comets.' Over the centuries, astronomers have been studying this mysterious space cloud, with more and more information accumulating as to just what it is, what it's made of, and where we think it's going.

Join fellow SJAA member Bob Garfinkle (and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society) as he delights again us with another of his fascinating and informative talks at our January 14, 2006 general meeting. Bob will describe to us who else may have also observed the supernova of 1054, how Messier came to discover the remnant of that explosion, who actually discovered it before he did, and many other fascinating facts and figures about: The Crab Nebula.

Bob is the author of "Star-Hopping: Your Visa to Viewing the Universe" and a co-author of "Advanced Skywatching." If you have copies of Bob's books and would like him to autograph them for you, be sure to bring them to the meeting.