Kepler's Nova

On October 9th, 1604 Johannes Kepler began studying a new star that had appeared in the skies above. This new star was far brighter than any other stars in the sky, but its luminosity slowly diminished over time. Kepler's studies lasted over a year and he detailed his findings in a book titled De Stella Nova (The New Star). Later scientists determined that what Keppler had been studying was actually a star gone super-nova 13,000 light years away. Scientists recently turned three of their most powerful instruments on the place in the heavens where that star had suddenly appeared 400 years ago. This is the resultant image that they captured of the gas and dust cloud generated by that explosion.