Ancient Chinese Mystery Solved

Remnants of the oldest recorded supernova, RCW 86 (Photo: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/CXC/SAO)   
Remnants of the oldest recorded supernova, RCW 86 (Photo: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/CXC/SAO)   
In what sounds like a chapter from a thrilling detective book, NASA scientists say they’ve solved a 2,000-year-old mystery.

Back in 185 A.D., Chinese astronomers noted something they called a “guest star,” which mysteriously appeared in the sky and remained there for about eight months.

Scientists in the 1960′s determined that the “guest star” observed by the ancient astronomers was actually the first supernova ever recorded.

Later research allowed scientists to gather more data from this astronomical first, now called RCW 86. They found it is a supernova remnant, which is located about 8,000 light-years away.