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arXiv · 1211.0467

No evidence for an early seventeenth-century Indian sighting of Keplers supernova (SN1604)

Robert H. van Gent
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Abstract

In a recent paper Sule et al. (Astronomical Notes, vol. 332 (2011), 655) argued that an early 17th-century Indian mural of the constellation Sagittarius with a dragon-headed tail indicated that the bright supernova of 1604 was also sighted by Indian astronomers. In this paper it will be shown that this identification is based on a misunderstanding of traditional Islamic astrological iconography and that the claim that the mural represents an early 17th-century Indian sighting of the supernova of 1604 has to be rejected.

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Robert H. van Gent. 2012-11-02. No evidence for an early seventeenth-century Indian sighting of Keplers supernova (SN1604). https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201211721

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