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Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
A Mysterious Object Lit Up the Sky 600 Years Ago. Astronomers Finally Found It.
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: In 1408, Chinese astronomers and court officials observed an especially bright object in the sky that appeared for about ten days, but its identity remained unknown. The object was described as yellow (an auspicious color, even thought it might have actually been any color besides red) and smooth (stars with rays were seen to be unlucky because of the sharp edges). It was determined that the object was a classical nova, and according to recent work, it could be a stellar remnant in the Vulpecula constellation. At dusk on a late October night in 1408, something mysterious lit up the skies above China. Ming Dynasty astronomers who recorded the phenomenon wrote that its brightness was intense enough to last at least ten days. Back then, it was thought to be a 'celestial guest'—a lost star that had wandered into that region of sky. Observed near the Niandao asterism (a pattern of stars that isn't technically a constellation, like the Big and Little Dippers), in the same area as the Cygnus and Vulpecula constellations, the 'guest star' was seen as an auspicious Zhou Bo Virtue Star. These stars were intensely bright and believed to manifest when an emperor brought peace and harmony to the realm. Astronomer Hu Guang wrote a congratulatory memorial of this event to the emperor, describing the object as 'smooth and bright' with 'a pure yellow color.' 'The heavenly vault reveals its blessings, with the Virtue Star's glittering brilliance in the middle of the sky; the Silver River [Milky Way] unfolds its splendor, its luminous beauty interwoven along the Niandao. This splendid omen is truly a sign of an enlightened era,' Hu said in his Memorial of Congratulations on the Auspicious Star. 617 years later, what exactly this object was had still not been determined, but astronomer Boshun Yang was determined to find out. He and his team carefully studied the ancient observations of the guest star, which had been meticulously written down to honor the emperor. Superstition held that stars that were smooth and round (as opposed to those with rays, whose appearance of points and spikes, or mang jiao was thought of as a bad omen) were good luck. The use of the word 'luminous' in descriptions conveys the brightness of an object that might have had rays without being ominous. The star was also described as 'yellow in color,' most likely because yellow has positive associations. Whether it really was yellow is debatable. Many stars appear somewhere between bluish and pure white in color, but those colors were also considered unlucky, There were also fewer terms for color in the ancient world, with many languages using only one term for greens and blues, and having no words for shades between red, orange, and yellow. An earlier supernova, for instance, was described as whitish-blue in Japan but yellow in China. 'Celestial omens are assumed to have been highly important; we can consider the information reliable,' Yang and his team said in a study recently uploaded to the preprint server arXiv. Yang thinks that the apparition could have been any color except red, which in this case would have been caused by extinction—the reddening of light caused by the presence of interstellar dust (red tends to dominate in extinction, as shorter wavelengths like blue are drowned out more easily than longer wavelengths like red). Niandao was 'in the middle of the sky,' so extinction was unlikely. So, what kind of object had the Chinese court officials and literati really seen centuries ago? It couldn't have been a comet, since it would have not been visible for such a long period of time. The objects seen as 'guest stars' at the time of these writings were actually stellar transients—temporary phenomena, like supernovae, that occur due to a change in the star. Yang thinks that the object described by these documents is an example of a classical nova, rather than a supernova. Novae typically happen in binary systems consisting of a white dwarf (the compact core of a dead intermediate-mass star like our Sun) and a 'living' red giant star. The white dwarf's powerful gravity pulls in hydrogen from its companion, and enough eventually accumulates to light up the surface of the white dwarf. As the white dwarf keeps drawing hydrogen and helium, it triggers nuclear fusion reactions that create heavier elements, and the energy released by those reactions releases so much energy that it creates the nova. Because the object's light curve (compared to the cup of an oil lamp), brightness, and visibility were all consistent with what one would see in a nova, Yang and his team concluded this particular type of explosion is what must have been spotted in the sky all those years ago. Even better, they believe they may know the exact object that put on the light show—the stellar remnant CK Vul in the constellation Vulpecula. 'The 1408 even stands as one of the earliest well-documented nova candidates, offering a rare opportunity to probe pre-telescopic stellar phenomena,' the team wrote. 'Future high-resolution observations of CK Vul's remnant […] could test the hypothesized connection to the 1408 eruption.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Gizmodo
03-06-2025
- General
- Gizmodo
After 600 Years, Astronomers Finally Solve the Mystery of the Missing ‘Guest Star'
In October 1408, in Ming Dynasty China, court astronomers recorded a strange celestial event: a bright yellow object, unmoving in the sky, shining steadily for over ten nights. It was described as 'as large as a cup' and 'pure yellow color, smooth and bright'—a sight so notable that it prompted formal documentation by imperial officials. For centuries, this 1408 'guest star' has been a historical curiosity with no clear-cut identity. But thanks to a new discovery, astronomers think they've finally figured out the source. In a recent paper posted to the preprint server arXiv, researchers led by Boshun Yang, an astronomer at the University of Science and Technology of China, report an overlooked report by Hu Guang, a court official in charge of 'congratulatory memorials and laudatory poems addressed to the emperor,' as described in the paper. This official document from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau provides a fuller, more authentic account than previous descriptions of the event and, crucially, allowed the researchers to rule out the possibility of a forged or misinterpreted record. The memorial describes the object as stationary in the southern Niandao asterism—in the part of the sky now associated with the constellations Cygnus and Vulpecula—and visible for more than 10 days. Unlike comets or meteors, which streak across the sky, this object stayed put and maintained its brightness, suggesting it was a star. Specifically, the event recounted by Hu Guang has the characteristics of a nova, or the violent death of a star that suddenly flares in brightness before slowly dimming. The team posits the 1408 nova had 'plateau' characteristics, meaning its light stayed steady for an unusually long time. Interestingly, the team also had to account for the subtle politics baked into the language of the record. Ancient Chinese astronomers were careful in how they described celestial phenomena when reporting to the emperor. To ensure that his outlook remained rosy, it was important that astronomical events channeled good vibes. They avoided ominous language in reports of the nova, which was described as 'yellow' and 'lustrous,' as opposed to it sporting 'spikes' or other details that could sound ominous, according to Universe Today. By combining this new historical document with modern astrophysics, Yang's team argues that the 1408 guest star is almost certainly a nova—adding it to a growing list of ancient Chinese records that corroborate modern astronomical observations. Like the well-known 1054 supernova that created the Crab Nebula—reported by the Chinese as it happened, and now vividly imaged by observatories like the Webb Space Telescope—this centuries-old observation shows how events relatively distant in human history are just blips in cosmic time. Furthermore, it provides a foundation for modern astronomy, which can use earlier accounts as a backdrop—and even a driver—for new discoveries.
The Star
20-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Interview: Official from China's National Disease Control and Prevention Administration responds to media questions on WHO Pandemic Agreement
GENEVA/BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The 78th World Health Assembly held in Geneva, Switzerland, announced the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement on Tuesday. What does the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement mean for global public health governance? What role has China played in the negotiations? Xinhua interviewed Hu Guang, director of the Emergency Response Division at China's National Disease Control and Prevention Administration (NDCPA), who was deeply involved in the drafting and negotiations of the Pandemic Agreement, to better expound China's actions and positions. SOLEMN COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARDING HEALTH OF ALL HUMANITY Q: What does the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement mean for global public health governance? A: The formulation of the Pandemic Agreement is a key measure in the reform of global health security governance following the COVID-19 pandemic, as countries seek to improve global health governance, address deficiencies in the international and the World Health Organization (WHO) responses to the pandemic, and enhance global capacity to prevent, prepare for and deal with the next infectious disease pandemic. The agreement proposes establishing a series of new platforms and mechanisms which aim to comprehensively reform the existing working rules for pandemic monitoring, prevention and response systems, promote the development and sharing of pandemic-related products, and restructure production and distribution systems -- to collectively optimize the global public health governance system and make efforts to address the current challenges to fairness in international health development. After over three years of intensive negotiations, nations have finally reached consensus on the agreement text, fulfilling a solemn commitment to protecting global public health while demonstrating robust support for multilateral governance mechanisms. IMPROVING GLOBAL HEALTH GOVERNANCE, DEMONSTRATING CHINA AS A RESPONSIBLE MAJOR COUNTRY Q: What role has China played in the negotiations of the Pandemic Agreement? A: China has been actively participating in the negotiations of the Pandemic Agreement. Guided by the vision of building a global community of health for all proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has practiced true multilateralism and has advocated for strengthening solidarity and cooperation among nations during the talks. It has supported the WHO in playing a central coordination role in order to jointly improve the global health governance system and boost worldwide capacities for prevention, precaution and response. On technical issues including pandemic prevention and monitoring, China, upholding the spirit of science, has put forward reasonable amendments to the text and been deeply involved in drafting the relevant text, playing an important role in helping reach consensus. Thanks to China's efforts, all parties agreed to focus monitoring efforts on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases with pandemic potential, to clarify the scope of institutions responsible for information sharing, to reduce the implementation burden on the parties, and to safeguard the common interests of developing countries. In addition, together with Brazil, Indonesia, Bangladesh and other countries, within the framework of "Friends of Fairness," China actively responds to the reasonable demands of developing countries for fair access to health products, demonstrating its role as a responsible major country. ADDRESSING EQUITY ISSUES AND CARRYING OUT SUBSEQUENT ANNEX NEGOTIATIONS Q: How will the Pandemic Agreement enhance global coordination and effectively address existing equity issues? A: The Pandemic Agreement proposes measures in areas such as research and development (R&D), production, technology transfer, benefit-sharing, product supply and financing to address existing equity issues. Regarding R&D, the agreement mandates collaborative actions among the parties, requiring them to support developing countries in building their R&D capacities and institutions, actively facilitate their participation in scientific research, and establish mechanisms for the prompt sharing of research data and outcomes. In the areas of production and technology transfer, the agreement requires the parties to implement measures -- including transferring production technologies and skills for producing pandemic-related products -- to enhance the sustainability and geographic diversification of global production capacity, ensuring more sustainable, timely and equitable access to such products worldwide. Regarding pathogen access and benefit-sharing, the agreement calls for establishing a WHO-managed pathogen access and benefit-sharing system to achieve rapid and timely sharing of materials and sequence information on pathogens with pandemic potential, and share the benefits resulting from the use of these materials and sequence information. Regarding product supply, the agreement proposes establishing a WHO-led global supply chain and logistics network to meet global public health needs. Additionally, it establishes a financing coordination mechanism to provide more sustainable and predictable funding for implementing the Pandemic Agreement. Q: When will the adopted Pandemic Agreement enter into force? A: According to the relevant arrangements, after the adoption of the agreement at the 78th World Health Assembly, the WHO will establish Intergovernmental Working Group to negotiate the annex related to Article 12 (Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System) of the agreement. The outcomes of the annex negotiations will be submitted to the 79th World Health Assembly for consideration. Upon adoption, the annex will be open for signature and approval together with the main text of the Pandemic Agreement and will enter into force after the approval of sixty nations. China will continue to actively participate in the negotiations on the annex in a bid to promote the agreement's scientific rigor, equity and operational feasibility.
