In what’s called a “once-in-a-lifetime event,” light from a star’s fusion explosion has traveled toward Earth for thousands of years and will be here any day now.
T Coronae Borealis (also known as T Cor Bor, T CrB and Blaze Star) will be as bright as the North Star (for those in the northern hemisphere).
Dr Laura Dreisen from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Physics said the Blazing Star would be as bright as Orion’s right leg for those in the southern hemisphere.
A recurring new T CrB becomes visible every 80 years after a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf about 3,000 light-years away.
The dwarf sucks hydrogen from a neighboring red giant, and this causes pressure and heat to build up, which eventually triggers the explosion.
Known as a nova (for “new”), it is expected to become visible anytime between now and September.
There is a dark spot in the Corona Borealis. Astronomers and non-astronomers everywhere are watching this spot, which is where the “new” star will appear. It will remain visible to the naked eye for about a week.
NASA called it a “once-in-a-lifetime event.”
Driessen said the two stars are close enough that the gravitational pull causes material to be sucked in by the white dwarf.
“It’s a binary system and every now and then there’s an outburst, so it’s new,” she said.
“When we think of a nova, we often think of a supernova, which is when they explode at the end of their lives … there’s no coming back from that. But the new one has a smaller surface explosion based on this accretion, this collection of material.
The first recorded sighting of the Flaming Star was in 1217, when the Abbot of Ursberg in Germany saw “a pale star that for a time shone with great light,” NASA said.
He was last seen in 1946.
Driessen said the star is always variable, getting brighter and dimmer. But about 10 years before the explosion, it starts to get a little brighter before fading again in the months before the explosion.
“It’s not really going to be like clockwork, it’s about the accumulation of material. So it’s not an exact number, but we have that early warning,” she said.
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While the spectacular phenomenon has been observed before, Driessen said this is the first time it will be investigated with modern technology.
“That’s why it’s so exciting. This will be the first one where we get the information that we have access to now, we have all these telescopes that we didn’t have 80 years ago,” she said.
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array in New Mexico are just some of the instruments that will track Blaze.
Fermi Project Scientist Dr Elizabeth Hayes, who is also head of NASA’s Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, said typical new events are far away.
“It’s going to be really close, with a lot of looking at it, studying the different wavelengths and hopefully giving us data to start unlocking the structure and the specific processes,” she said.
“We can’t wait to get the full picture of what’s going on.”
NASA has a map of the Corona Borealis to help people determine where to look, and Driessen said software like Stellarium is also helpful. There are several free apps for viewing night sky maps.
Driessen said people should find the darkest area they can, as far away from a city or town as possible, and take binoculars for an even better view.
“Let your eyes adjust to the dark,” she said. “And it’s good to have a red torch. Put some cellophane over it so it doesn’t spoil your night vision. And don’t look at your phone.”
