The impact of historical Chinese astronomical records

Abstract

The impact of Chinese historical astronomical records is important in the study of astronomy today. In particular, the impact of the Chinese records related to historical supernovae have made important contributions to modern astronomy, contributing to the rapid progress of space sciences and high-energy astrophysics made in the recent two decades. These historical records could also be of assistance in the future. In this connection, the main topics discussed in this paper are the great new star which occurred in the 14th century Before Christ (BC), the historical supernovae Anno Domini (AD) 185 and AD 393, and the new concept of the "Po star" and its application. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006.