Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 28, 2006 is “RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Jacco Vink ( Univ. Utrecht ) et al. , XMM-Newton: ESA Chandra: NASA / CXC. The original explanation runs about 170 words.

RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
Credit: Jacco Vink ( Univ. Utrecht ) et al. , XMM-Newton: ESA Chandra: NASA / CXC Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“In 185 AD, Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance of a new star in the Nanmen asterism – a part of the sky identified with Alpha and Beta Centauri on modern star charts. The new star was visible for months and is thought to be the earliest recorded supernova .”

— APOD editors, September 28, 2006

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
September 28, 2006
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Jacco Vink ( Univ. Utrecht ) et al. , XMM-Newton: ESA Chandra: NASA / CXC
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 170 words

All of September 2006 → · 2006 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Supernovae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: September 28 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.