Witness This Rare Cosmic Explosion That’s About To Rock Earth’s Sky

Imagine witnessing a rare cosmic phenomenon that will light up the night sky, and you don’t even need a telescope to see it! NASA scientists and astronomers are eagerly waiting for a massive explosion that could be visible from Earth, and you can join them in this extraordinary event.

The star system T Coronae Borealis, also known as the Blaze Star or T CrB, has been in a state of unprecedented high activity since February 2016. This means that a thermonuclear explosion, known as a nova, could occur at any time between now and September. The good news is that you won’t need any special equipment to see it – just a clear night sky and a pair of eyes.

A nova occurs when a white dwarf star pulls in material from a nearby red giant, causing a massive explosion. The white dwarf doesn’t disintegrate, and once the explosion dissipates, it returns to its original brightness. This event will make the star appear brighter in the sky, and it will be visible to the naked eye for up to a week.

Dr. Elizabeth Hayes, project scientist for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, explains that the event won’t look explosive at first. “If they keep watching for the next 24 hours, they will see a faint star appear and gradually brighten,” she says. “The best time to look by eye will be about one day into the eruption, but the nova will be visible by eye for a few days.”

The T CrB star system is a binary star system consisting of a white dwarf and an ancient red giant, located about 3,000 light years away from Earth in the Northern Crown of the Milky Way. The white dwarf is about the size of Earth but has the same mass as the sun, while the red giant is a dying star shedding material into space. The white dwarf’s massive gravitational pull is pulling in the ejected material, causing a runaway thermonuclear reaction that leads to the explosion.

This is not the first time this star system has experienced a nova. The last one occurred in 1946, and it’s a cycle that has been happening since it was first discovered over 800 years ago. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data,” says Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

To find the Corona Borealis constellation, where the nova will occur, you can look for Vega and Arcturus, the two brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere. Draw an imaginary line between the two, and Corona Borealis will be almost right in the middle. Alternatively, you can find the Hercules constellation and look for Corona Borealis next to it.

Since the exact timing of the nova is unknown, NASA is relying on citizen astronomers and space enthusiasts to report the event. “Using social media and email, (observers will) send out instant alerts,” says Elizabeth Hays, chief of the Astroparticle Physics Lab at NASA Goddard. “We’re counting on that global community interaction again with T CrB.”

Early detection will also help NASA collect more data about the event to better understand its mechanics. “We’ll observe the nova event at its peak and through its decline, as the visible energy of the outburst fades,” says Hounsell. “But it’s equally critical to obtain data during the early rise to eruption – so the data collected by those avid citizen scientists on the lookout now for the nova will contribute dramatically to our findings.”

You don’t need a telescope to see the nova, but those with high-powered telescopes will have a better view. They will see changes more definitively, including the optical spectrum and the elements in the explosion.

So, what’s the difference between a nova and a supernova? A supernova is the last dying gasp of a star as it goes dark, while a nova requires two stars – one a white dwarf and the other a red giant. There are other types of novas, including hypernovas and kilonovas, which are extremely rare and occur when two neutron stars collide.

Get ready to witness this rare cosmic explosion and join the global community of astronomers and space enthusiasts in this extraordinary event!

Historical Context:

• The star system T Coronae Borealis, also known as the Blaze Star or T CrB, has been in a state of unprecedented high activity since February 2016.
• The last nova occurred in 1946, and this event is part of a cycle that has been happening since the star system was first discovered over 800 years ago.

Summary in Bullet Points:

• A rare cosmic phenomenon, a thermonuclear explosion (nova), is expected to occur in the star system T Coronae Borealis, visible from Earth, and can be seen with the naked eye. • The event will make the star appear brighter in the sky and will be visible for up to a week. • The nova occurs when a white dwarf star pulls in material from a nearby red giant, causing a massive explosion. • The white dwarf doesn’t disintegrate, and once the explosion dissipates, it returns to its original brightness. • The event is expected to occur between now and September, with the exact timing unknown. • NASA is relying on citizen astronomers and space enthusiasts to report the event and collect data. • The event will be visible in the Corona Borealis constellation, which can be found by drawing an imaginary line between the brightest stars Vega and Arcturus. • Those with high-powered telescopes will have a better view, seeing changes more definitively, including the optical spectrum and elements in the explosion. • A nova is different from a supernova, which is the last dying gasp of a star as it goes dark, while a nova requires two stars – one a white dwarf and the other a red giant. • The event is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young people to observe and collect data, and NASA is counting on the global community to contribute to the findings.