A supernova is the biggest explosion that humans have ever seen. Each blast is the extremely bright, super-powerful explosion of a star. One type of supernova is caused by the “last hurrah” of a dying massive star. This happens when a star at least five times the mass of our sun goes out with a fantastic bang! Massive stars burn huge amounts of nuclear fuel at their cores, or centers. This produces tons of energy, so the center gets very hot. Heat generates pressure, and the pressure created by

In the year 1006 AD, this actually happened. Observers across the world—from China and Japan to Europe and the Middle East—witnessed the sudden appearance of a "guest star" in the constellation Lupus. This was SN 1006, a massive supernova explosion that remains the brightest stellar event ever recorded in human history. It was brighter than Venus. At its peak, it was estimated to be about 16 times brighter than Venus is today. It was so intense that people could see it clearly during the day. At