According to NASA, scientists around the world are eagerly awaiting the cosmic nova event that will add a “new star” to the night sky between now and September.
The spectacle will be so bright that it will be visible to the naked eye.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event that will inspire many new astronomers and give young people the opportunity to make their own observations of cosmic events, ask their own questions and collect their own data.” Dr Rebecca Hounsell says:He is a research assistant specializing in nova phenomena at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“It will inspire the next generation of scientists,” she added.
T Corona Borealis, nicknamed the “Blaze Star” and known to astronomers simply as “T CrB,” is a small binary star system located in the northern crown of the Milky Way galaxy, about 3,000 light-years from Earth, between the constellations Boötes and Hercules.
According to NASA, the star is made up of white dwarfs (dead stars about the size of Earth but with staggering masses comparable to that of the Sun) that are slowly stripping hydrogen from an ancient red giant.
Every 80 years or so, hydrogen from a red giant star builds up on the white dwarf’s surface, eventually causing a violent thermonuclear explosion that spews hydrogen into space and creates a fantastical light show.
To spectators on Earth, the light show will look like a new star has appeared in the sky.
T CrB’s last nova explosion was in 1946. According to NASA, the first sighting was recorded more than 800 years ago by a German abbot, who discovered “a faint star that emitted a brief, intense light.”
“There are some novae that have very short periods, but they don’t typically occur repeatedly in a human lifetime, and they rarely happen relatively close to our solar system,” Hounsell said. “We’re incredibly excited to have a front-row seat.”
Hounsell said this nova should not be confused with the better-known “supernova,” in which a massive star dramatically explodes and destroys itself at the end of its life. In a nova, the dwarf star remains intact but its accumulated material is scattered into space in a blinding flash.
For just a week, skywatchers will be able to observe the eruption with the naked eye, which she’s sure will amaze viewers around the world.
At its peak, it will look like a new star has appeared.
The nova could happen later, but the system has recently exhibited behavior similar to how it did before the 1946 explosion, leading researchers to predict it will happen in late summer or shortly thereafter.
