On this date 971 years ago, people around the world observed and recorded SN 1054, a supernova. It remained visible in the daylight sky for several months. Records from the Chinese Song dynasty, Japanese observers, and the Islamic world have survived. Some 15th Century European documents may refer to it. A pictograph associated with the Ancestral Puebloan culture near the Peñasco Blanco site in New Mexico may represent the supernova. And pyraminds at Chokia in the U.S. midwest may have been built in response to the supernova's appearance. Separately, in 1731, English astronomer John Bevis first identified the Crab Nebula, and it was independently rediscovered in 1758 by French astronomer Charles Messier. Not until the 1920s did speculation begin that the Crab Nebula might be the remnant of SN 1054. The nebula was observed to be expanding, and tracing the expansion back showed the nebula was about 900 years old. And the nebula appears in the same part of the sky as the supernova recorded by the Chinese astronomers. Edwin Hubble proposed the connection in 1928, and Hubble's one-time student Nicholas Mayall confirmed it in 1939. Of course, SN 1054 actually happened 7,500 years ago, plus or minus 1,600 years, so maybe today's ride celebrates that event! Today I was happy to be able to complete this route, after cutting short similar routes two days and four days ago. It was still quite hot up on Mulholland and down in Sherman Oaks, but maybe not quite as hot as before. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do the steepest climb, up to Baldwin Hills Overlook, with a 12% pitch, after all of the other climbing. But I slowed down to 3 mph and less, and it actually felt pretty good. I photographed two places I haven't ridden before: Tree People and Franklin Canyon. Tree People is an education org with a facility in Coldwater Canyon Park on the north side of Mulholland. A very pleasant spot, and they have water (if you hunt for it)! Franklin Canyon is beautiful, with more green and trees than Westridge and less development than Benedict Canyon. The whole Franklin Canyon descent from Mulholland to Beverly Hills is through the park, only open sunrise to sunset. Good pavement all the way, mostly quite smooth. Nice! Credit: https://w.wiki/BSRj