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As a result of an explosion in the constellation of the Northern Crown, a new star will appear in the night sky. This star is called as T Coronae Borealis and it will be prominent in the Northern Hemisphere but also visible from the northern skies of Australia and New Zealand. This event is occurring some 3,000 light years away from Earth. The explosion will create a bright point of light in the sky that will be visible to the naked eye from Earth.However, the outburst will be brief; the maximum brightness will last only a few hours, and within a week it will begin to fade away.
T Coronae Borealis, also called Blaze Star, is known to astronomers as “T CrB”. It is a binary system composed of a white dwarf. A white dwarf is a small dense star, which is formed when a low-mass star has exhausted its nuclear fuel due to the gravitational pull of a nearby planet. Its mass is comparable to that of a sun. The stripped away hydrogen accumulates over the surface of the star which builds further pressure and heat. This pressure triggers an explosion and that removes the accumulated mass from over it in a blinding flash. For the Blaze Star, this phenomenon occurs every 80 years. This cycle can carry on for several thousand years.
The new star will be visible for only a few nights and then will disappear into darkness. This is a rare phenomenon as the cycles are not necessarily short and neither do they occur so close to earth. T CrB was first sighted more than 800 years ago in 1217. It was discovered by a German man called Burchard, an abbot of Ursberg. He noted ‘a faint star that for a time shone with great light.’ This nova was last seen in 1946 and before that in 1866.
This rare phenomenon allows astronomers and amateur scientists to look at novas closely, collect data, and contribute to the research on celestial objects. The nova is expected to erupt before October, so stargazers are advised to keep note and look at the sky for this star.
T Coronae Borealis, also called Blaze Star, is known to astronomers as “T CrB”. It is a binary system composed of a white dwarf. A white dwarf is a small dense star, which is formed when a low-mass star has exhausted its nuclear fuel due to the gravitational pull of a nearby planet. Its mass is comparable to that of a sun. The stripped away hydrogen accumulates over the surface of the star which builds further pressure and heat. This pressure triggers an explosion and that removes the accumulated mass from over it in a blinding flash. For the Blaze Star, this phenomenon occurs every 80 years. This cycle can carry on for several thousand years.
The new star will be visible for only a few nights and then will disappear into darkness. This is a rare phenomenon as the cycles are not necessarily short and neither do they occur so close to earth. T CrB was first sighted more than 800 years ago in 1217. It was discovered by a German man called Burchard, an abbot of Ursberg. He noted ‘a faint star that for a time shone with great light.’ This nova was last seen in 1946 and before that in 1866.
This rare phenomenon allows astronomers and amateur scientists to look at novas closely, collect data, and contribute to the research on celestial objects. The nova is expected to erupt before October, so stargazers are advised to keep note and look at the sky for this star.