The reddish blotch: The brightest Supernova ever recorded

[Kaantian]

Image Credit: NASA and Middlebury College

During the spring of 1006, reports of a supernova brighter than the whole night sky came in from around the world. It is hypothesized that when the light reached Earth in 1006, it was so bright you could see it during the day, with reports saying it cast it's own shadow.The dwarf star exploded an estimated 7000 years before the light reached Earth.

This was first identified to be the debris of the 1006 object back in 1965. The remains are, for the most part, visible only in the X-Ray spectrum, and not visible light. The cloud of debris in the image is estimated to be about 60 light years across.

You can learn more about this over at

io9.com, or see more amazing images of space over at NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day.