The supernova of AD 1006

The supernova of AD 1006 was the most brilliant witnessed in historical times. A reassessment of the historical records of the event (Far Eastern, Arabic, and European) is presented here, confirming the nature of the outburst, and giving greatly improved estimates of its position, peak apparent brightness, and duration of visibility. From this study the assertions are made that the only possible remnant of the event is the radio source PKS 1459-41, that the supernova was at a distance of close to 1 kpc and reached apparent magnitude about - 9.5 at maximum, and was visible over a period of several years. A new high-resolution 408-MHz map of the radio-remnant of the supernova is included. (author)