Thursday, June 28, 2012

Supernova Could Have Caused Mysterious "Red Crucifix" in the Sky in A.D. 774

[Scientific American]  An eerie "red crucifix" seen in Britain's evening sky in ad 774 may be a previously unrecognized supernova explosion — and could explain a mysterious spike in carbon-14 levels in that year's growth rings in Japanese cedar trees. The link is suggested today in a Nature Correspondence by a US undergraduate student with a broad interdisciplinary background and a curious mind.