This summer is going to be one of the most exciting ones for the astronomers and space scientists, because of the nova, i.e. explosion of a star in the Coronae Borealis. Coronae Borealis is a Latin phrase that translates to “northern crown” and refers to a constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. A huge explosion, with bright light is going to happen in the constellation any time soon, that can be witnessed by naked eyes from the earth.
Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specialising in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said, “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,”. Adding to this he said, “It’ll fuel the next generation of scientists.”
The nova is happening in a binary system called T Coronae Borealis, and known to astronomers simply as “T CrB”, or “Blaze Star”. This system is about 3,000 light-years away from us and consists of two stars: a small, dead star (white dwarf) and a big, old star (red giant). The white dwarf is pulling hydrogen away from the red giant, which builds up pressure and heat. Eventually, this will cause a huge explosion that will blast the hydrogen into space with a bright light and a huge amount of energy. The light will be so bright that we can witness the phenomenon from Earth naked eyes.
“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,” Hounsell said. “It’s incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat.”
Where is Coronae Borealis?
Coronae Borealis is a horse-shoe, arch-like structure located in the northern hemisphere. It is located on the west of the Hercules constellation, and can be ideally spotted on clear nights.
To find T Coronae Borealis, start by looking for two very bright stars in the northern sky: Arcturus and Vega. They are like two shining diamonds in the sky.
Draw an imaginary line between these two stars. This line will point you in the direction of the constellation Hercules and a smaller group of stars called Corona Borealis, which looks like a crown.
Follow this line and look for a fainter star that might be flashing or changing brightness. This could be T Coronae Borealis, the recurring nova everybody is looking for.
Don’t Confuse Between Nova And Supernova
A nova is a star that suddenly becomes much brighter for a short time, then fades back to its normal brightness. This is different from a supernova, which is a massive star that explodes and dies.
Think of a nova like a big burst of light from a star. It’s like a cosmic flashbulb that goes off, making the star visible from far away. But unlike a supernova, the star doesn’t die after a nova. Instead, it goes back to its normal brightness.
T Coronae Borealis is a special kind of nova called a recurring nova. This means it has bursts of brightness over and over again. The last time it got brighter was in 1946.
What’s interesting about T Coronae Borealis is that it’s not just one star, but two stars orbiting each other. This is called a binary star system. So when we see a nova happening in this system, it’s actually the two stars interacting with each other that causes the burst of light.