Recent astronomical activities show that our night sky will be hosting another rare event for astronomers and starwatchers to witness. Often, news outlets will announce eclipse dates or that an asteroid will be orbiting the Earth, but seldom a “star” exploding, because of its rare occurrence. It has been nearly 80 years since the last explosion of the nova, T Coronae Borealis. Dubbed as “The Blaze Star”, astronomers predict that the nova is set to “explode” again, making it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
What is The Blaze Star?
Only 3,000 light years away, this “star” is part of a binary star system called Corona Borealis, the “Northern Crown”, that sits dimly until every 80 years, when it significantly increases in brightness until it is visible in Earth’s sky.
The system consists of a white dwarf (which is the corpse of a star cooling down after its energy is used up by the sun) and a red giant (a dying star that is in its final stage of life). The white dwarf pulls gas away from the outer layers of its companion until the collected gas heats up on its surface before igniting.
“We don’t often see a repeated outburst in a human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively close to our own system. It’s incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat.”
– Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, Assistant Research Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
West of the Hercules constellation, the Northern Hemisphere on Earth will be able to view the peak of its eruption, becoming as bright as Polaris, the North Star. Although the excitement of the burst rises as the days pass, the exact date of it is not precise.
“I must caution that the timing of events leading up to the nova is uncertain. There is no guarantee it will follow the same exact pattern as the last nova, so while it appears imminent, we may still have a couple years to wait before it actually happens.”
