For the first time in 80 years, a new star will appear in the night sky, making it a unique opportunity to view it with the naked eye.
The star, called T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, is located in the northern hemisphere of the sky, 3,000 light-years away from Earth, and will explode sometime this year – and the burst will appear as a star in the sky for a week lighting up.
T CrB will be located in the constellation Corona Borealis, located in a semicircular region between the constellations Bootes and Hercules, and is expected to shine as brightly as the North Star Polaris.
NASA has not yet shared an exact date for the cosmic display, but predicted it will happen between now and September of this year.
The white dwarf star will emit a Nova explosion between now and September 2024
The T CrB star will be visible from Earth at a distance of 3,000 light years and is expected to shine as brightly as the North Star
The star’s outburst is called a nova, which is a short explosion that happens once a century when a white dwarf star – a collapsed star about the size of the Sun – and a red giant star – a dying star about 74 times its size is from the sun – get too close.
Their proximity causes the temperature and pressure on the red giant star to increase from about 4,000 to 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit to more than 360,000 degrees Fahrenheit and causes T CrB to eject its outer layers that have collected on the white dwarf planet’s surface.
When the red giant’s matter reaches its maximum temperature, it triggers a nuclear reaction that causes an apocalyptic explosion that releases 10,000 to 100,000 times the Sun’s annual energy output.
The returning nova does not destroy the star when it explodes as a supernova would, but instead cools to its initial temperature and resumes the cycle.
The most recent records of the T CrB nova explosion date from 1946 to 1866, but reports indicate observations occurred hundreds of years earlier.
According to Cornell UniversityReverend Francis Wollaston reported that in 1787 he had observed a star with exactly the same coordinates as T CrB at least four times a week.
A report written by Abbott Burchard in 1217 said he witnessed a rapidly rising star in Corona Borealis that “shone with great light” and lasted “for many days,” Cornell reported.
It’s not possible that Burchard’s observation was commentative because he described the sight as a “Stella” — another term for a star, the report said.
Most Nova explosions can last thousands of years, but T CrB is unique in that it completes the entire process in just a week.
When the Nova explodes, its brightness reaches its peak and “should be visible to the naked eye for several days and a little more than a week with binoculars before dimming again, possibly for another 80 years.” NASA said.