A star is dead?
Keep your eyes on the sky, stargazers: NASA has predicted that the highly anticipated “once-in-a-life-time” star explosion – or nova – will be visible to the naked eye sometime this summer, according to a recent press release.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have a front row seat,” said Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, assistant research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Called T Coronae Borealis or the “Blaze Star,” this celestial event is located 3,000 light-years away and consists of a white dwarf, an Earth-sized remnant of a dead star. The mass of the starburst is now comparable to that of the Sun.
Also in the mix is an “ancient red giant slowly being stripped of hydrogen by the brutal gravity of its hungry neighbor,” NASA described.
When enough hydrogen from the red giant builds up on the white dwarf’s surface, it triggers a massive thermonuclear explosion that shoots the collected material into space in a blinding flash. The intergalactic phenomenon should not be confused with a supernova, a similar cosmic combustion that destroys some dying stars – rather than keeping them intact like the nova – and is often billions of times brighter than a nova.
In the case of the Blaze Star, that event appears to occur every 80 years on average, and can repeat for hundreds of thousands of years.
This event is particularly important given its relative proximity to Earth. “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 says.
Unfortunately, the exact date for the interstellar fireworks is still unknown, but this potential star will reportedly be visible sometime this month. NASA estimates that the “brief” phenomenon will be visible to the naked eye for about a week.
Fortunately, amateur astronomers can maximize their chances of catching a glimpse of the fleeting light show by following several tips.
First, they should initially look at the Northern Crown, a parabolic constellation west of the constellation Hercules, Fox News reports.
They can then follow a straight line from the two brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere – Arcturus and Vega – which will lead them to the constellation Hercules and the Corona Borealis, where the Glory of Glory will be most visible. It will seem as if a new star has appeared in the sky.
Unfortunately, “recurring novae are unpredictable,” says NASA astrophysicist Koji Mukai, adding that just when scientists think they’ve established its pattern, it can “completely deviate from it.”
“We will see how T CrB (scientific name for ‘Blaze Star’) behaves,” he added.
Regardless, Hounsell believes this groundbreaking event will “nurture the next generation of scientists.”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create many new astronomers, giving young people a cosmic event that they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions and collect their own data,” she stated.