Oldest Human Record of Supernova Discovered in India
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- Published: Thursday, 11 January 2018 16:54
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Photo: Cadenagramonte.New Delhi, Jan 10.- Indian astrophysicists announced today the discovery of a rock carving dating back 5,600 years, which could be the oldest human record of a supernova and a star map.
The stone slab, 48 centimeters long by 28 wide, was located in Burzahama region, in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The figure shows two bright objects in the sky with rays of light coming out of them. On the left, there is a hunter with a bow and an arrow aiming at a deer, and beside him, another man holding a spear next to his dog, explained a statement from the experts.
The head of the team, Hrishikesh Joglekar, from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, ruled out that the two objects are the Sun and the Moon because of their position in the sky.
The stone drawing is a sky chart of the night on which a complete supernova is observed and it could be the so-called HB9 that exploded 4,500 years ago with a brightness comparable to that of the Moon, estimated his colleague Mayank Vahia.
According to the statement, if that supernova is taken as the basis, the hunter on the left will coincide with the constellation Orion, the deer with Taurus, the man holding a spear with Cestus and the dog with Andromeda or Pegasus.
This is not a land-hunting scene, but is actually a celestial chart showing the location of constellations and the Moon the day the supernova was first observed, the text noted. (Cadenagramonte)
