What's that really bright light?

July 4, 1054. Way before the first rockets lit up the Independance Day skies, something was going on up there. First recorded by Chinese astronomers, Supernova 1054, (what was to be called the Crab Nebula), showed up in the heavens. According to records it was damn bright. It was easily visible during the day for weeks and remained in the sky for a total of nearly 2 years altogether.

For a slightly technical but none the less engaging report on this check out this SEDS article:http://www.seds.org/messier/more/m001_sn.html