Rare Byzantine coin may show a 'forbidden' supernova explosion from A.D. 1054

A star ran out of fuel and exploded in a supernova. The blast was visible in the sky for 23 days and hundreds of nights after it was located.

While skywatchers in Japan, Iraq and possibly the Americas recorded the explosion's sudden appearance in writing and stone, Chinese astronomer dubbed it a "guest star." Europe, which was ruled by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX and the Christian church, did not mention the explosion in the sky.

Why wouldn't you? The church may have ignored this star, or it may have been a more sinister plot to cover up the reality of the universe. A limited-edition gold coin may be a clue to the answer.

A group of researchers analyzed a set of four Byzantine gold coins from A.D. 1042 to 1055. The fourth coin, which shows two stars framing an image of the emperor's head, may be a subtle depiction of the supernova of 1054.

The ancient Chinese text contains the Earliest documented Aurora.

The emperor's head is thought to represent the sun, while the eastern and western stars are thought to represent Venus and SN 1054, respectively. The warring Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic churches may have been represented by the two stars.

Byzantine scholars might have been forbidden from studying or writing about the supernova due to religious restrictions if this interpretation is correct. The church may have had a prejudice against any observed changes in the night sky. The chaos of the schism may have made it wise for the church to ignore the supernova. A clever scholar may have been able to find a way around censors.

There would be a strong incentive not to report the occurrence of any event that would threaten the theological status quo because of the Church's stance on astronomy. "Perhaps one of the ways for a clever astronomer at Constantine IX's University of Constantinople to record the event would be to use a cipher, in this case a special edition coin that was produced after the 1054 event."

There are 36 copies of this two-starred coin that were studied by the researchers. The size of the western star shown on the coins was not uniform, but seemed to shrink over time.

The study authors admit that these are reasonable hypotheses. The stars on the coins are arranged in a way that coincides with the appearance of a supernova. It's not possible to say if the 36 coins examined were made before or after the supernova.

You'll need a good telescope to properly view the Crab Nebula, but it's still visible today. Astronomers can study the fascinating object without being prevented from doing so.

The original publication was on Live Science.