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‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ interstellar explosion will be visible from Earth this summer: NASA
NY Post ^ | 6/19/24 | Ben Cost

Posted on 06/19/2024 9:54:52 PM PDT by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Outdoors; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: 1946; astronomy; blazestar; catastrophism; coronaborealis; earth; explosion; interstellar; nasa; nova; physics; recurrentnova; redgiant; science; tcoronaeborealis; thermonuclear; whitedwarf
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To: Telepathic Intruder
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.

41 posted on 06/20/2024 9:43:53 AM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Keyhopper

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


42 posted on 06/20/2024 9:46:48 AM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: dragnet2
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.
43 posted on 06/20/2024 10:19:56 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: DesertRhino

lol
Great movie

I just binge watched Z Nation.

Awesome

/waiting for Apophis myself


44 posted on 06/20/2024 10:40:07 AM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page help save my beloved dog's life. https://www.givesendgo.com/G2FU)
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To: Telepathic Intruder
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.

45 posted on 06/20/2024 11:56:07 AM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Freest Republican

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


46 posted on 06/20/2024 7:24:44 PM PDT by BatGuano (Dem's guilty of Election Fraud in 2020, stand by for 2024.)
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To: Libloather; All

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

Standard Nova.

Super Nova.

Aldo Nova.


47 posted on 06/20/2024 10:35:41 PM PDT by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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To: mabarker1

Hope the tires had the appropriate speed rating...


48 posted on 08/03/2024 2:38:29 AM PDT by Does so ( 🇺🇦......Say it fast...Kamala D. Harris = KALAMITY Harris...)
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To: Does so

I don’t remember exactly what tires we had, IIRC they were BFGoodrich. I’m pretty sure they were either H or V rated it was not something we did on regular basis that was the only time I’ve ever been in that fast on the ground in a car. To have that I had to move to aircraft to go faster.

Besides, we were teenagers so we were indestructible and invincible, occasionally somewhat stupid, but we’re still here.


49 posted on 08/03/2024 12:15:13 PM PDT by mabarker1 ( (Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress!!!)
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Bookmarking


50 posted on 08/03/2024 12:17:12 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Democrats should have been barred from elections since The Battle Of Athens.)
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