This summer, the world is set to witness a rare celestial spectacle, a nova, that scientists are dubbing a "once-in-a-lifetime event."
This cosmic explosion, emanating from a white dwarf, a star at the end of its life cycle, promises to light up the night sky in a dramatic display. Unlike a supernova, which marks the explosive end of a star, a nova is a significant ejection of material accumulated by a white dwarf from a nearby younger star.
According to CBS News, Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, specializing in nova events, stated, "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." She further added, "It'll fuel the next generation of scientists."
The nova is expected to occur between now and September in the Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown, of the Milky Way. This powerful flash of light, visible to the naked eye, will be the result of violent interactions between a white dwarf and a red giant, culminating in a massive blast. A red giant, another dying star, becomes increasingly turbulent in its final phase, periodically expelling material from its outer layers.
The white dwarf and red giant, collectively known as T Coronae Borealis or the "Blaze Star," form a binary star system in the Northern Crown, approximately 3,000 light-years from Earth. As reported by CBS News, the red giant in this system is continuously losing hydrogen as it nears total collapse. This hydrogen is then drawn into the orbit of the nearby white dwarf. Over several decades, the hydrogen accumulates on the white dwarf's surface until it triggers a thermonuclear explosion.
This explosion, comparable to a nuclear bomb, will rid the white dwarf of the excess material. The eruption is expected to be visible on Earth for about a week before it fades. However, both the white dwarf and red giant in the Blaze Star system will remain intact. The process of hydrogen buildup then restarts, continuing until the material on the white dwarf reaches its threshold and explodes again.
Binary systems like T Coronae Borealis undergo this cycle at varying speeds, with a nova typically erupting from the Blaze Star every 80 years. Hounsell noted, "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. It's incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat."
The upcoming nova in T Coronae Borealis will be the first observed from Earth since 1946, according to NASA. The agency has advised stargazers to look for the Northern Crown, described as "a horseshoe-shaped curve of stars west of the Hercules constellation," on clear nights. NASA also encouraged citizens to observe the phenomenon as best they can, even though its own scientists will study the nova at its peak and throughout its decline.
Hounsell emphasized the importance of data collection during the early rise to eruption, stating, "the data collected by those avid citizen scientists on the lookout now for the nova will contribute dramatically to our findings." This celestial event, therefore, presents a unique opportunity for both professional and amateur astronomers to contribute to our understanding of these cosmic phenomena.
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