Free Republic

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...

T Coronae Borealis is a binary star system composed of a red giant and a companion white dwarf located in the constellation of Corona Borealis. Nicknamed the “Blaze Star,” it is a recurrent nova with a period of approximately 80 years. Very soon, it is expected to increase rapidly in brightness and astronomers worldwide are training their gaze to catch a glimpse of the expected nova event.

The celestial wonders of April's solar eclipse and the mesmerizing dance of last weekend's aurora borealis captivated millions, yet the cosmos has an even more elusive spectacle in store. Before the year's end, the night sky will unveil an astronomical phenomenon so extraordinary that it eclipses the rarity of both these events combined. A blazingly bright event known as a nova, a light show that happens approximately once every 80 years, is expected to be visible in the coming months. "This could be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity," NASA said. An animation showing a nova of a white dwarf that is...

In 1217, a German monk looked to the starry southwest sky and noticed a normally faint star shining with unusual intensity. It continued to blaze for several days. Abbott Burchard, the leader of Ursberg Abbey at the time, recorded the sight in that year's chronicle...This medieval manuscript may have been the first record of a rare space phenomenon called a recurrent nova — a dead star siphoning matter from a larger companion, triggering repeated flares of light at regular intervals. According to new research, the "wonderful" star in question may be T CrB, which sits in the constellation Corona Borealis...