Comments on: Astronomers discover pulsar thought to be only two centuries old https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/astronomers-discover-pulsar-thought-to-be-only-two-centuries-old/ Thu, 18 Jun 2020 01:28:02 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Robert Zimmerman https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/astronomers-discover-pulsar-thought-to-be-only-two-centuries-old/#comment-1082937 Thu, 18 Jun 2020 01:28:02 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=66602#comment-1082937 In reply to Ben K.

Ben K: I actually question their theory that the pulsar is only 240 years old. Seems based on too little information (the spin and its rate of change).

]]> By: Ben K https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/astronomers-discover-pulsar-thought-to-be-only-two-centuries-old/#comment-1082925 Thu, 18 Jun 2020 00:19:12 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=66602#comment-1082925 I am curious about the intriguing statement in the cited article that:

“People on Earth would have been able to see the supernova explosion that formed this baby magnetar around 240 years ago, right in the middle of the American and French revolutions.”

My own very quick search of recorded historical supernovae only turned up SN 1604 studied by Kepler as the closest in time. I wonder if any are making a comprehensive effort to determine if this supernova was in fact observed at the time.

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