WWhen an Arab poet praised the 12th-century military leader Saladin, he may have wanted to curry favor with him. But most of all, his lyrical observations of a strange brilliance in the night sky over Cairo made the greatest impression on astronomers 800 years in the future.
Ibn Sanah al-Mulk, secretary of the Saladin Empire of Egypt, wrote his poem in 1181, and researchers have recently interpreted one of the poem's lines as evidence of a real supernova. Research team explain connection in an article published in Astronomical notes this year.
According to a diverse group of authors whose areas of expertise range from Islamic studies to astrophysics, the poem sheds light on Supernova 1181, the remnants of which were observed with modern telescopes.
A (translated) line in al-Mulk's Arabic poem reads: “Let the stars sacrifice themselves for the son of Ayyub. [Saladin]for they are his servants and thereby sacrifice themselves for the sake of the master.”
Supernovae are massive stars that explode in their death throes, emitting huge bursts of light that gradually dim over time. Most supernovae are too far from Earth to be seen without a telescope. The most recent one in our Milky Way galaxy that could be observed with the naked eye occurred in 1604, just a few years before Galileo first invented telescopes. So science sometimes relies on historical records of supernovae to confirm what can be learned about their remnants.
Read more: “Why doesn't ancient fiction talk about feelings?»
In a feat of historical detective work, researchers from three German universities have concluded that al-Mulk's poetic observation (translated) that “now even the stars [anjum] in the sky their number increased” refers to a supernova explosion that was likely visible to the poet's naked eye in ancient Cairo. Their analysis indicates a likely time frame for this sighting, noting that the poem praises both Saladin and Saladin's brother Safadin, whose paths crossed in Egypt between 1181 and May 1182. Additionally, scholars link the reference to poem of Saladin's troops defending Mecca from destruction, with the Crusader attack in December 1181.
According to the verse of al-Mulk, the new star was located near al-Qaff al-Habib (“the painted hand”), known today as the constellation Cassiopeia. Modern telescopic observations have identified a supernova remnant called Pa 30 located approximately 10,100 light-years from Earth in Cassiopeia. The remnant has long, radiating filaments, like the spokes of a wheel, around a central white dwarf. This remnant, one of the hottest stars in the Milky Way, is believed to be the remains of the stellar sacrifices spoken of by an Arab poet many years ago. The discovery of Pa 30 is also consistent with historical Chinese writings about the bright star being observed for 185 days, from August 6, 1181 to February 6, 1182.
Life can imitate art, and art can imitate life. But every now and then the poems imitate telescopes, focusing on the last breaths of dying stars.
Enjoying Nautilus? Subscribe to our free newsletter.
Main image: NASA/JPL/Caltech.
