‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ interstellar explosion will be visible from Earth this summer: NASA

NY Post ^ | 6/19/24 | Ben Cost

[Libloather]

A star is dead?

Keep your eyes on the skies, stargazers: NASA has predicted that the much-anticipated “once-in-a-life-time” star explosion — or nova — will be visible to the naked eye sometime this summer, per a recent press release.

“It’s incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat,” said Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Dubbed T Coronae Borealis or the “Blaze Star,” the celestial event is located 3,000 light years away and is comprised of a white dwarf, an “Earth-sized” remnant of a dead star. The starburst’s mass, meanwhile, is similar to that of the Sun.

Also in the mix is an “ancient red giant slowly being stripped of hydrogen by the relentless gravitational pull of its hungry neighbor,” NASA described.

When enough hydrogen from the red giant accumulates on the surface of the white dwarf, it triggers a massive thermonuclear explosion that blasts the amassed material into space in a blinding flash. The intergalactic phenomenon is not to be confused with a supernova, a similarly cosmic combustion that destroys some dying stars — rather than keeping them intact like the nova — and is often billions of times brighter than a nova.

In the case of the Blaze Star, that event appears to reoccur, on average, every 80 years, and can repeat itself for hundreds of thousands of years.

This event is particularly significant given its relative proximity to Earth. “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,” said Hounsell.

[dragnet2]

I'm not impressed. It will look no different than an ordinary star. Like the article says, this is a nova, not a supernova.

The star itself will look quite different. Since the 1940s the star has not even been visible to the unaided eye. For the first time in a lifetime the star will be visible for millions to view. And will only remain visible for maybe a couple days and once again it will go dark and not be visible again until another generation comes along.

[dragnet2]

When that happens it’s expected to become as bright as a full moon and last for weeks or longer.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Currently it's about magnitude +10, which puts it just on the edge of visibility with standard 10x50 binos. It's supposed to reach about +2 or +3 when it blows, or around the same as Coronae Borealis' brightest star (give or take half a magnitude). So here it is now:


And here is with the "new" star, probably exaggerated in comparative brightness:


I have Stellarium mobile, which makes it pretty easy to find at night (when it's up), but the light pollution is getting pretty bad in my city these days.

[Salamander]

lol
Great movie

I just binge watched Z Nation.

Awesome

/waiting for Apophis myself

[dragnet2]

You bet, that's why I said, "The star itself will look quite different given the fact the star has not even been visible to the unaided eye." since the 1940s.

Btw, Stellarium is a nice program and I use similar platforms to control a telescope mount by simply clicking an object on the celestial map that I want to the scope to move to. Once everything aligned precisely, the object appears exactly in the cameras center of field of view.

[BatGuano]

Thank you....I can use the site along with my BOWDITCH!

[Paul R.]

Things called “Nova” that shine brightly briefly, and then pretty much fade away:

Standard Nova.

Super Nova.

Aldo Nova.