NASA predicts a “once in a lifetime” nova explosion sometime this summer

You may have the opportunity to spot a rare explosion in outer space – the rebirth of a star.

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The unique cosmic event is called a “nova” and will occur in the constellation Corona Borealis, or “Northern Crown,” which contains a binary star system, meaning a system containing two stars that are connected to and in orbit. That system is known as “T Coronae Borealis” or T CrB, nicknamed “The Blazing Star” and is located about 3,000 light-years from Earth, “The system is composed of a white dwarf – a remnant of a dead star in the size of Earth 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.”

In this binary system, there is a “hot” component – the white dwarf – and a “cold” component – the red giant. The process by which the white dwarf absorbs hydrogen from the red giant results in a cosmic clump, causing a thermonuclear reaction, which appears to occur about once every 80 years. And especially, since the system is relatively close to us, you should be able to see it with the naked eye.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of young astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions and collect their own data,” Rebekah said. Hounsell. an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “This will feed the next generation of scientists.”

A nova is one step below a supernova, which is when a star explodes and is completely destroyed. Novae, by comparison, are repeated and short-lived instances of stars exploding as they continue to carry out their cosmic patterns. According to NASA, it is estimated that between 20-50 novae occur each year in our galaxy, but despite their power, most remain undetected.

“There are some repeating novae with very short cycles, but typically, we don’t often see a repeating outburst in a human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively close to our system,” Hounsell said. “It’s incredibly exciting to have this front row seat.”

The first recorded sighting of this particular nova was in the fall of 1217—more than 800 years ago—when a man named Burchard, an abbot of Ursberg, Germany, noticed “a faint star that for a while shone with great light,” he wrote. NASA.

If the nova pattern continues, some researchers say the nova event could occur this summer, or by September 2024.

If you’re a stargazer, you should find the system in the constellation of the Northern Crown, which is a horseshoe-shaped curve of stars west of Hercules, located using the two brightest stars in the northern hemisphere, Arcturus and Vega, according to NASA -s.

When the system explodes, it should be visible for about a week.

“Recurring novae are unpredictable and opposite,” said Koji Mukai, an astrophysics research fellow at NASA Goddard. “When you think there can’t be a reason why they follow a certain certain pattern, they do – and as soon as you start relying on them repeating the same pattern, they completely deviate from it. We will see how T CrB behaves.”