European Historical Evidence of the Supernova of AD 1054 Balkan Medieval Tombstones


Abstract in English

In a previous work, we establish that the acclaimed Arabic records of SN 1054 from ibn Butlan originate from Europe. Also, we reconstructed the European sky at the time of the event and find that the new star (SN 1054) was in the west while the planet Venus was on the opposite side of the sky (in the east) with the Sun sited directly between these two equally bright objects, as documented in East-Asian records. Here, we investigate the engravings on tombstones (stecci) from several necropolises in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina (far from the influence of the Church) as a possible European record of SN 1054. Certainly, knowledge and understanding of celestial events (such as supernovae) were somewhat poor in the mid-XI century.

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