‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ nova explosion will add a new star to the night sky in a dazzling spectacle: NASA

American news

By means of Patrick Reilly

Scientists around the world are eagerly awaiting a cosmic nova event that NASA says will add a “new star” to the night sky sometime between now and September.

The spectacle will be so bright that it will be visible to the naked eye.

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create many new astronomers and provide young people with a cosmic event that they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions and collect their own data,” said Dr. Rebekah. Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

“It will fuel the next generation of scientists,” she added.

T Coronae Borealis – nicknamed the ‘Blaze Star’ and known to astronomers simply as ‘T CrB’ – is a small binary star system in the northern crown of the Milky Way, about 3,000 light-years from Earth, between the constellations Boötes and Hercules.

It consists of a white dwarf – a dead star only about the size of Earth, but with an incredible mass equivalent to that of our sun – that is slowly ripping hydrogen from an ancient red giant, according to NASA.

About every 80 years, the red giant’s hydrogen builds up on the white dwarf’s surface, eventually causing a violent thermonuclear explosion that spews the hydrogen back into space in a fantastic light show.

The light show will appear to spectators on Earth as if a new star appears in the sky.

The last nova on T CrB occurred in 1946. The first observation was recorded more than 800 years ago by an Abbott in Germany, who, according to NASA, “saw a faint star that shone with great light for a time.”

“There are a few recurring novae with very short cycles, but typically we don’t see a repeat eruption very often in a lifetime, and rarely one that is so relatively close to our own system,” Hounsell said. “It’s incredibly exciting to have this front row seat.”

Hounsell said the nova event 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 it sends the collected material flying through space in a blinding flash.

For a short week, stargazers will be able to see the eruption with the naked eye, which they are sure will amaze viewers around the world.

At its peak it will seem as if a new star has emerged.

While it is possible that the nova could occur after September, the binary system has recently been exhibiting similar behavior as it did before the 1946 event. Researchers therefore predict that this will occur near or shortly after the end of summer.