Galactic supernovae of the second millennium A.D

This paper discusses the five most recent known galactic supernovae and their remnants. The possible importance of circumstellar shells ejected before the explosion of Kepler's supernova and the Cas A supernova is emphasized. It is pointed out that the optical remnant of Kepler's supernova (which was of type I) is expanding with a velocity that is comparable to the expansion velocity of the Crab nebula. This observation weakens the main argument that has been given against the idea that the Crab nebula was produced by a supernova of type I. Some new observations are presented of the optical remnants of the supernova of 1604 and of Cas A. Key words: supernovae - supernova remnants