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Young World
Ancient star trail
One more example that the ancients were much more aware than they are given credit for comes from Phoenix, Arizona. A rock carving (petroglyph) in the White Tanks Regional Park is believed to record the explosion of an ancient star by Native Americans. From 500-1100 A.D., a group of the Hohokam are believed to have lived in the area and the rock carving is said to depict a well-known supernova that occurred in 1006. Astronomers of that time in West Asia, Asia and Europe recorded what they thought was the birth of a new star in the constellation Lupus, just south of Scorpius. But researchers today know that what the ancient astronomers witnessed was the death of a star as it blew itself up. The Hohokam petroglyph shows a scorpion and stars matching the position of the constellation and the supernova in the sky. The petroglyph in Chaco Canyon National Monument is said to depict a late supernova of 1054.
COMPILED BY R. KRITHIKA
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