I conclude, therefore, that this star is not some kind of comet or a fiery meteor. . . but that it is a star shining in the firmament itself one that has never previously been seen before our time, in any age since the beginning of the world.
Source: In Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations, ed. Jason Shulman & Isaac Asimov, 1988.
-- Tycho Brahe, (Dec 14 1546-1601), Danish astronomer; He recorded the first exploding star seen in Europe and coined the term nova.