Case file · Cosmic event
Kepler's supernova
In October 1604, Johannes Kepler in Prague followed a new star in Ophiuchus, brighter than any planet but Venus, which faded over a year.
1604 CE · 50.09, 14.42 · status: explained
The account
Kepler's book 'De Stella Nova' (1606) argued that the heavens could change. It was the last supernova in our galaxy seen with the naked eye.
The sceptical view
A natural event: a thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernova about 20,000 light-years away.