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

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

[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.