Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics VOLUME 2, NUMBER 6 ANCIENT NOVAE AND METEOR SHOWERS SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Washington, D. C. 1958 Publications of the Astrophysical Observatory This series, Smithsonian Contribution* to Astrophysics, was inaugurated in 1956 to provide a proper communication for the results of research con- ducted at the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution. Its purpose is the "increase and diffusion of knowledge" in the field of astrophysics, with particular emphasis on problems of the sun, the earth, and the solar system. Its pages are open to a limited number of papers by other investigators with whom we have common interests. Another series is Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory. It was started In 1900 by the Observatory's first director, Samuel P. Langley, and has been published about every 10 years since that date. 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C. - Price 30 cents Contents Page A New Catalog of Ancient Novae: Hsi Ts6-tsung 109 Historical Records of Meteor Showers in China, Korea, and Japan: Susumu Imoto and Ichiro Hasegawa 131 in A New Catalog of Ancient Novae1 By Hsi Ts&-tsung: [This translation is the result of the combined efforts Recently, after searching through the Twenty- of certain astronomers and Chinese scholars who prefer four Histories, Wen-hsien fung-k*ao, Tung-chih, to remain anonymous. Their help is gratefully ac- knowledged. Particular thanks go to Dr. Cecilia and the studies of institutions known as Hui-yao Payne-Gaposchkin, whose sustained interest in the of various dynasties, and checking with various paper was of major assistance in its publication.] histories and various Japanese astronomical The study of novae is of great significance in materials, we rechecked Lundmark's catalog stellar evolution and radio astronomy. Can the in detail. We concluded that the following outbursts of novae and supernovae be radio stars are not novae, but comets. point sources? Are the supernovae and slow novae associated with the planetary nebulae in The nova near 17 Virginia on May 3 A. D. 64. the process of evolution? Can a nova explode In Tung-k^ao, the report reads: more than once? Does the outburst of a nova On the 47th cyclical day, 3d month, 7th year of or supernova involve the development of a Yung-p'ing of the Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty, common star into a white dwarf? What is a "guest star" with a ray as long as 2 ch'ih [Chinese the frequency of supernova outbursts in the counterpart of feet] appears at the south of T'ai-wei's Milky Way system? All these questions need Tso Chih-fa [a region near the North Pole that includes many observational data for solution. They UMa], outside Tuan-me'n, lasting 75 days. require not only modern observations, but also The 2-ch*ih long ray could indicate that this historical data from the past. star had a tail, and was therefore a comet. Lundmark (1921) has collected many obser- (The date given corresponds to April 28 A. D. vations of ancient novae and compiled a catalog 64, Western calendar.) that has been used by almost all astronomers. [Translator's note.—The ancient Chinese language But as Vorontsov-Velyaminov (1948) comments: uses 60 combinations of 22 characters (10 representing the Stems of the Heaven, 12 the Branches of the Earth) Lundmark's catalog contains many doubtful points. to denote hour, day, month, or year, in succession: 60 If we rely on this material as the only source for en- days or months or years comprise a cycle. When a riching the poor observational data of the past, it is, at cycle is completed, a new one starts over again, and all best, a very risky matter. these cycles for day, month, and year respectively, go The catalog includes 60 novae that were on independently. No relation between day, month, and year could be shown by this system. For instance, discovered before or during the 19th century. there is the 54th cyclical day of the 2d month. As a This material was drawn mainly from Ma rule, however, this system was used only for the date, Tuan-lin's W$n-hsien ?ung-kKao (section on rarely for the month. In most cases, only the 12 char- "guest stars"). In the past, however, the acters of the Branches of the Earth were used to indi- Chinese often confused novae ("guest stars") cate the hour, so the system could denote the hour with more exactness. The 4th cyclical hour always with comets ("sweeping stars"). Moreover, means the period from 5 a. m. to 7 a. m., the 11th the record in Ma Tuan-lin's treatise is by no cyclical hour, from 7 p. m. to 9 p. m. means complete. Therefore Lundmark's work The modern translation of "sweeping star" is is not entirely accurate or complete. "comet," and of "guest star," "nova"; however, in 1 Translated from Acta Astronomies Sinica, 1955, vol. 3, p. 183. * Commission of the History of Chinese Natural Sciences, Academia Sinica, Peking, China. 109 110 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ASTROPHYSICS Tout order to be more faithful to the original text, the literary The date corresponds to September 7 A. D« translation has been used. 684. The date of perihelion of Halley's Comet The positions of each Chinese star have been indi- is November 26, the same year, and it is very cated after checking different dictionaries and other sources without referring to the catalog position.] often visible two or three months before or after the date of its perihelion. Therefore, the The nova on January 31 A. D. 66. comet described in these Japanese books is Lundmark based his identification on a sen- probably Halley's Comet (in the shape of a tence from Tung-Pao: crescent). On the 25th cyclical day, 12th month, winter, 8th year of Yung-p'ing of Emperor Hsiao Ming of the Han The three novae in the period from April to dynasty, a "guest star" appears in the east. June A. D. 837. But in the Hui-yao of the Eastern Han Ttung-ktao, in the "guest star" section, states: dynasty, one passage records the appearance of On the 21st cyclical day, 3d month, 2d year of a comet, as follows: K'ai-ch'&ng of Wftn-tsung of the T'ang dynasty, a On the 45th cyclical day, 1st month, a "guest star" "guest star" appeared beneath Tung-ching [Gemini]; comes out from ChMen-niu [a region that includes on the 25th cyclical day another one appeared within a Aquila], as long as 8 ch'ih, passing Chien-hsing Tuan-me'n [the southern star of T'ai-wei]. On the [around Sgr], disappearing at the south of Fang 43d cyclical day, 4th month, the one beneath Tung- [$, 6, r, v Sco]. ching disappeared; on the 10th cyclical day, 5th month, The Ku-chin chu of the Tung Han-shu says the other one within Tuan-me'n disappeared. On the 19th cyclical day, a "guest star" like a "sparkling star" that the star stood beside Nan-tou [M, X, p, *, y, f Sgr] and T'ien-yo has passed Tou [n, X, p, «r, r, f Sgr] Chien, Ch'i, Fang, [8 stars in the west of Nan-tou]. crossed Chiao [f, 6, t Vir and Spica] K'ang and arrived at I [22 stars in Hya and Crt]; its flame points east and Williams (1871), Biot (1846), and Lundmark is visible almost 50 days. (1921) consider that these three are novae: The 45th day of the 1st month is February 20, 1. From April 29 to May 21 A. D. 837, nova in Gemini. which is only 20 days after January 31. During 2. From May 3 to June 17 A. D. 837, nova near w Vir. this time, at nine each night, the stars of Tou, 3. On June 26 A. D. 837, nova beside 5, X Sgr. Chien, Ch'i [y, S, e, 0 Sgr], Fang, Chiao, K'ang Recently Shklovsky (1954) and Shajn (Shajn [t, K, X, p, Vir], and I all are in the east, so that and Hase, 1954; Hase and Shajn, 1954) have the nova seen there on January 31 could well stated that the outburst of the nova in Gemini have been the comet mentioned in the Hui-yao. occurred between n, 17, in Gemini; that the Furthermore, the time of perihelion of Halley's nebula IC 443 is the remnant of the nova; and, Comet is January 26 of that year, so this furthermore, that it may be possible to relate "nova" was probably Halley's Comet. In this with the radio point source (a=6h 14m, Fien-wtoi Pao-ku lu, Chu W6n-hsin declares 8= +22° 38'). that the identification of the comet seen in the However, in the Book of Astronomy, a section 6th month, 8th year of Yung-p'ing as Halley's of the Hsin Tangshu, preceding the passage Comet is obviously a mistake, because that about these novae, is another paragraph comet appeared on the 19th cyclical day, 6th recording the passing of a comet: month, and lasted 56 days, from July 29 A.