Millions of Americans had the rare opportunity to view a total eclipse in April, but that’s not the only spectacle in the sky that will stun observers this year.
This from townhall.com.
According to NASA, a nova event is poised to occur this summer that will be so bright that people around the world will be able to see it with the naked eye.
Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said:
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data.
It’ll fuel the next generation of scientists.
Further:
T Coronae Borealis, dubbed the ‘Blaze Star’ and known to astronomers simply as ‘T CrB,’ is a binary system nestled in the Northern Crown some 3,000 light-years from Earth. The system is comprised of a white dwarf—an Earth-sized remnant of a dead star with a mass comparable to that of our Sun—and an ancient red giant slowly being stripped of hydrogen by the relentless gravitational pull of its hungry neighbor.
The hydrogen from the red giant accretes on the surface of the white dwarf, causing a buildup of pressure and heat. Eventually, it triggers a thermonuclear explosion big enough to blast away that accreted material. For T CrB, that event appears to reoccur, on average, every 80 years.
Don’t confuse a nova with a supernova, a final, titanic explosion that destroys some dying stars, Hounsell said. In a nova event, the dwarf star remains intact, sending the accumulated material hurtling into space in a blinding flash. The cycle typically repeats itself over time, a process which can carry on for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. (NASA)
Hounsell said:
There are a few recurrent novae with very short cycles, but typically, 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.
🌌 Around the world, professional and amateur astronomers are closely watching T Coronae Borealis – a binary system ~3,000 light-years from Earth – waiting for an impending nova event so bright it will be visible on Earth with the naked eye.
MORE HERE >> https://t.co/HgONmjpy9B pic.twitter.com/L54ZDFmFWA
— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) June 6, 2024
Keep your eyes peeled for T CrB. This recurrent nova may flare from invisibility to naked-eye brightness soon. And if the outburst does occur this year as scientists are predicting, the spectacle will be visible for just under a week.
NOTE: This star has not been seen with the naked eye since the 1940s and will appear for a fleeting moment in our night sky this year. T CrB has charmed many generations of astronomers who have tracked, read historical records, or seen the star. Its previous eruptions have been observed since at least 1217 A.D.
Outbursts from T CrB happen every eight decades or so. The last outburst was documented in 1946. The next one is expected between now and September.
Bradley Schaefer, professor emeritus at Louisiana State University and longtime observer of T CrB, said:
This is the one big chance you have of seeing the brightest nova of the generation.
T CrB’s 80-year cycle is well documented. It follows the same phases.
The star is stable and then begins to ramp up in brightness before undergoing a pre-eruption dip in magnitude and, about 11 months later, a big explosion. In 2015, scientists noticed it was starting to fluctuate; then, last April, T CrB observers noticed its brightness dip.
Schaefer said:
T CrB could go up any night now. Or it might go up any month now. It’s hard to predict, but probably sometime this year.
These types of novae are extremely rare, with less than a dozen known in the Milky Way.
Again, keep your night sky watch eyes peeled for T CrB.
