July 1054, as its location (admittedly rather vague), is in the astrological sign of Gemini (which, due to axial precession, covers the eastern part of the Constellation Taurus). The date of the event in 446 is harder to determine, but the reference to the level of the Nile refers to the period preceding its annual flood, which happens during the summer. Suggested European sightings Since 1980, several European documents have been identified as possible observations of the supernova. The first such suggestion was made in 1980 by Umberto Dall'Olmo (1925–1980). The following passage which reports an astronomical sighting is taken from an account compiled by Jacobus Malvecius in the 15th century: The date this passage refers to is not explicit, however, and by means of a reference to an earthquake in Brescia 11 April 1064, it would seem ten years too late. Dall'Olmo suggests this is due to a transcription error. Another candidate is the Cronaca Rampona, proposed in 1981, which however also indicates a date several years after the event, in 1058 instead of 1054. The European candidate documents are imprecise, especially lacking in astronomical terms likely due to European scholars having lost many of the astronomical skills of antiquity. In contrast, the Chinese accounts pin-point within a degree where the supernova occurred, as well as how long it lasted and roughly how bright it became. The lack of accounts from European chroniclers has long raised questions. In fact, it is known that the supernova of 1006 was recorded in a large number of European documents, albeit not in astronomical terms. Among the proposed explanations for the lack of European accounts of SN 1054, its concurrence with the East-West Schism is prominent. In fact, the date of the excommunication of the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael I Cerularius (16 July) corresponds to the star reaching its maximum brightness and being visible in the daytime. Among the six proposed European documents, one does not seem to correspond to the year of the supernova (the chronicle of Jacobus Malvecius). Another (the Cronaca Rampona) has large dating and internal coherence problems. The four others are relatively precisely dated, but they date from Spring and not Summer 1054, that is to say before the conjunction between the supernova and the Sun (although a Khitan document suggests this may have been possible). Three of the documents (the chronicle of Jacobus Malvecius, the Cronaca Rampona and