08-04-2025
‘Blaze star' might go nova soon; what to expect
SPACE (KXAN) — A rare nova could occur in the next few nights. Called T Coronae Borealis, the 'Blaze Star' and 'T CrB' by astronomers, the binary star system could produce an explosion visible to the naked eye.
Located about 3,000 light years from Earth, the 'Blaze Star' is actually two stars. One is a white dwarf star, dead and shriveled, about the size of Earth. The other is an ancient red giant star that's slowly being devoured by the smaller star.
According to NASA, during a nova event, the white dwarf releases a massive explosion. The star will stay intact after this explosion, unlike during a supernova, in which the star explodes. These explosions reoccur every few years.
The explosion will create a bright spot in the sky that will last about a week. The last time the star's eruption was seen happened in 1946.
The 'Blaze Star' is located in the 'Northern Crown,' a horseshoe-shaped curve of stars located to the west of the Hercules constellation. This constellation is found by looking east.
According to NASA, the best way to locate the star is to find Arcturus and Vega, two of the brightest stars in the night sky this time of year, and drawing a line between them.
The star will be visible about four hours after sunset this month. Once it explodes, the bright nova will be about the same brightness as the North Star.
The 'Blaze Star' was originally expected to explode in 2024. The dimming of the star system that year led many to believe it would explode soonish.
'Recurrent novae are unpredictable and contrarian,' said Dr. Koji Mukai, a fellow astrophysics researcher at NASA Goddard, in a statement released last year. 'When you think there can't possibly be a reason they follow a certain set pattern, they do – and as soon as you start to rely on them repeating the same pattern, they deviate from it completely. We'll see how T CrB behaves.'
It is important to note, because of the distance between the Earth and this star system, that we're actually seeing an explosion that occurred 3,000 years ago. Because the system is 3,000 light-years away, it takes 3,000 years for the light to actually reach us.
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