'First Indian record of supernova found in Kashmir'

Researchers from the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the University of Kashmir said the mural, depicted on a door-arch in the mosque, shows the supernova as a dragon-head on the tail of the Sagittarius constellation.

A supernova is a celestial event which happens when massive stars exhaust their nuclear fuel and explode in a spectacular fashion. The explosion would be visible from the Earth, even during daytime, for several days if that star is placed in our part of the Milky Way galaxy. Although the original mural is now lost, some descriptions about it are available and a reproduction exists with the Department of Central Asian Studies' museum in University of Kashmir, the Journal Astronomische Nachrichten (Astronomical Notes) from Germany published yesterday said.

"Now, for the first time, we have found an Indian record of a supernova event," Prof Mayank Vahia of TIFR, co-author of the study and principal investigator of the research project 'Archaeoastronomy in Indian Context' said. "Many researchers had extensively searched Sanskrit literature for years and when no record was found, it was generally assumed that no records would ever be found. We looked at the non-literary sources and that proved to be decisive," he said.

"I was always puzzled why the Sagittarius in this mural had a dragon-head on its tail. We had information about the mural including its rough period, but did not understand its meaning," Prof Aijaz Bandey from Kashmir University said.

"Archaeoastronomy project brought the astronomers and us together. The discovery again underscores multidisciplinary nature of modern research," he added.
For centuries, astronomers from different countries have noted such supernovae appearing in the sky from time to time. While Chinese were the most meticulous record-keepers, records have also been found in Japan, Korea, Arab world, Europe and amongst native Americans.

The supernova of 1572 AD was systematically observed by famous astronomer Tycho Brahe and the one in 1604 AD was studied by another legendary astronomer Johannes Kepler. These records span from 185 AD to 1604 AD, overlapping with the golden era of Indian Astronomy.

"Thus, it was enigmatic that no Indian record of a supernova had been found till date," Vahia said. Explaining the mural, Dr Aniket Sule of HBCSE, lead author of the study said, "This picture of Sagittarius is pretty much like other contemporary depictions in Mughal India, except for the dragon head."

"In the year 1604, a supernova exploded in the exact region, where that dragon head is. Moreover, three other bright objects, namely Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were in close vicinity of the  supernova when it exploded. Together they would have looked, as if, the tail of the Sagittarius was suddenly breathing fire," he said.  

"Although the Mosque of Madani, where this mural is found is about 150 years older than the supernova, the glazed tiles used for the said mural give its date away. The glazed square tiles were introduced to the Indian subcontinent roughly at the same time as the supernova and not earlier," Sule said.

"Prince Shahjahan, who was in early teens at the time of this supernova, was a patron of this mosque and carried extensive repairs and added several decorative pieces to the mosque. It is likely that the said mural was added by Shahjahan as one of the new decorations," he added.