According to old stories on the day of the birth of King Charles II a star was visible. A few astronomers now believe it was a supernova. Lilly appears to have mentioned the event too but believed it to be Venus.


Birth time unknown but here are the noon positions:
Date/Time: 1630.06.08 12:00:00 UTC (GMT - Delta T), JD = 2316564.000000
Sidereal Time: 05:07:10, Delta T = 81.2 seconds

Planet Longitude Latitude Right Asc. Declination
Sun 17 Gem 26'11" - 0?00'00"
Moon 20 Tau 05'52" - 2?03'41"
Mercury 25 Gem 39'45" 1?37'19"
Venus 08 Tau 25'11" - 2?29'54"
Mars 18 Leo 49'26" 1?20'19"
Jupiter 11 Psc 51'54" - 1?06'31"
Saturn 29 Lib 15'40"R 2?37'38"
Moon's Node 13 Gem 01'48"

source: www.ephemeris.com

Most astronomers believe the supernova outburst must have been around 1670 and yet still invisible because of dust clouds around the star so it indeed might have been Venus. Anyone who has ever seen Venus on a very clear day with a clean blue sky will understand that this is not an impossibility. Still a nice subject to speculate about.

http://www.news-about-space.org/astrono ... er9209625/
http://www.space.com/11418-supernova-ex ... -king.html