Crab Nebula
Most of us are not aware that groups such as the Chinese, the Arabs, the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas knew significantly more about astronomy long before the Europeans. During the European Dark Ages, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Japanese, the Anasazi (American southwest tribal people) and the Arabs record a new star appearing in the skies. It was so bright that it could even be seen during daylight for nearly a month. The Europeans finally “discovered” the Crab Nebula in 1731.
Chinese and Arab astronomers began to cooperate with each other by the late 1100’s to early 1200’s. It is recorded that Genghis Khan had some astronomers who traveled with him to Persia precisely in order to study the Arabic astronomical system and calendar to see whether it could be of use to China. Kublai Khan invited Arab astronomers to China to help them with their star maps. Meantime, Arab astronomers benefitted from the star maps that China had already produced.
But, let Father Orthoduck get back to the “new star.” The new star was a supernova. In fact, the Crab Nebula is actually the remnant of a supernova. At the center of the nebula there is a pulsar called the Crab Pulsar, which is a neutron star. So, why does Father Orthoduck bring this all up? Well, the stars are often seen as being portents in the heavens. For instance, it was a bright star that led the Magi to Our Lord Jesus Christ. And, the Book of the Revelation talks about signs in the heavens.
So, Father Orthoduck found it quite humorous to see the date on which light from the explosion of the supernova reached the Earth. You see, the Chinese have kept extremely accurate calendar dates for over a millenia. In fact, their calendar dates are so accurate that we can convert their dates to our dates. So, when was the year in which the light of the supernova arrived here? The year was 1054, the year in which the Church began to blow itself apart in the Great Schism. The Schism begins a month and a half after the light from the supernova arrived here on Earth. But, the full date on which the Chinese first record the nova is quite interesting. It was on July 4, 1054.
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