Nearby ‘hydrogen bomb’ star is about to EXPLODE with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see it with the naked eye
A NEARBY star is about to reach supernova, which may finally make it visible to the naked eye.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, according to Nasa, as this reoccurring nova outburst only happens every 80 years or so.
There is no risk that Earth will be impacted by the mighty explosion – which is said to have the same power of a hydrogen bomb.
When Nasa says the star is ‘nearby’, what the agency actually means is that it’s in a star system 3,000 light-years away.
The star, T Coronae Borealis or T CrB, last exploded in 1946.
But Nasa astronomers believe it will explode again between February and September of 2024.
Normally, the star system is too dim to be seen with the unaided naked eye.
During supernova, T Coronae Borealis will be as bright as the North Star, Polaris for several days.
According to Nasa, amateur astronomers will be able to spot the star in the sky for slightly longer with the help from binoculars.
What is a supernova?
A supernova is the biggest explosion humans can ever see and the most powerful combustions in the recorded universe.
They are a result of a massive star dying.
When a star runs out of juice, it runs out of the pressure that keeps it from collapsing.
The giant, hot, star will then cool, and suddenly collapse.
Another type of supernova can occur when a star is in orbit with an Earth-sized white dwarf.
If the white dwarf – what’s left of a star after supernova – collides with a big star or pulls too much of a star’s matter away, that star will explode.
The Sun will one day go through the same fate, billions of years from now when it’s at least five times larger than it is today.
Nasa astronomers believe that about two or three supernovas occur each century in galaxies like our own Milky Way.
But space dust and debris blocks our view of most of the supernovas within our galaxy.
Where in the sky?
The exploding T Coronae Borealis will appear as a bright “new” star near the Corona Borealis constellation.
Coronae Borealis, also known as the Northern Crown, is a small, U-shape constellation in between the Hercules and Boots constellations.
Nasa advises armature astronomers to “become familiar” with the Corona Borealis star system sooner rather than later.
“This recurring nova is only one of five in our galaxy,” Nasa adds.
“This happens because T CrB is a binary system with a white dwarf and red giant.
“The stars are close enough that as the red giant becomes unstable from its increasing temperature and pressure and begins ejecting its outer layers, the white dwarf collects that matter onto its surface.
“The shallow dense atmosphere of the white dwarf eventually heats enough to cause a runaway thermonuclear reaction – which produces the nova we see from Earth.”
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