Image 01 Image 03

NASA Predicts Rare Nova Explosion This Summer

NASA Predicts Rare Nova Explosion This Summer

It is about 3,000 light-years from Earth, but it can be witnessed with the naked eye.

NASA predicts a nova will occur sometime this summer, about 3,000 light-years from Earth, but it can be witnessed with the naked eye.

The nova reoccurs once every 80 years.

“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,” said Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’ll fuel the next generation of scientists.”

The nova should happen in a dark spot among the seven stars of Corona Borealis, known as the Northern Crown.

The dark spot contains “two stars that are bound to and in orbit around each other,” known as T Coronae Borealis or T CrB. NASA nicknamed it the Blaze Star:

T Coronae Borealis, dubbed the “Blaze Star” and known to astronomers simply as “T CrB,” is a binary system nestled in the Northern Crown some 3,000 light-years from Earth. The system is comprised of a white dwarf – an Earth-sized remnant of a dead star with a mass comparable to that of our Sun – and an ancient red giant slowly being stripped of hydrogen by the relentless gravitational pull of its hungry neighbor.

The hydrogen from the red giant accretes on the surface of the white dwarf, causing a buildup of pressure and heat. Eventually, it triggers a thermonuclear explosion big enough to blast away that accreted material. For T CrB, that event appears to reoccur, on average, every 80 years.

EarthSky provided a picture of it. The app SkyView makes it easy to find the constellations and so much more.

Download the app. It’s fascinating and you learn so much!!

It is not a supernova:

In a nova event, the dwarf star remains intact, sending the accumulated material hurtling into space in a blinding flash. The cycle typically repeats itself over time, a process which can carry on for tens or hundreds of thousands of years.

“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.”

DONATE

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.

Tags:
, ,

Comments


 
 2 
 
 2
rhhardin | June 19, 2024 at 3:05 pm

It’s hoping for a contribution to the science budget. I predict, if it happens, you won’t be able to see it with the naked eye.


 
 2 
 
 3
Paula | June 19, 2024 at 3:14 pm

NASA predicts?

Did they predict that their astronauts return from the ISS will be delayed for the second time? Did they predict that they would have serious issues with the Boeing-built spacecraft that carried them to orbit?

I predict they will not tell us what is going on.

I was expecting an Earth-shattering Kaboom!!!.


 
 0 
 
 1
henrybowman | June 19, 2024 at 3:38 pm

Corona is actually pretty easy to find and make out, and is conveniently high in the sky every evening throughout the summer months in the northern hemisphere. I stargaze it often from my pool after dark. If this nova produces a brightness thst is more than BARELY “visible to the naked eye” (as so many of our recent highly-touted but disappointing comets have been), it’s going to be at center stage.

(We enjoyed an entirely unanticipated Vandenburg SpaceX launch from our pool last night. Beautiful and exciting!)


 
 0 
 
 0
gonzotx | June 19, 2024 at 3:39 pm

When can you see this?


 
 1 
 
 1
diver64 | June 19, 2024 at 4:00 pm

You know what would have been nice? When it was happening and where in the being included in the story


     
     1 
     
     2
    henrybowman in reply to diver64. | June 19, 2024 at 4:20 pm

    It’s a stellar event. It’s not on a timetable. Sometime this year, is a best guess, but maybe next year, or later. As to where, it’s in Corona, which is a central summer constellation, roughly in the area of the sky pointed to by the handle of the Big Dipper, if you continue its arc a bit tightly.


 
 1 
 
 4
TargaGTS | June 19, 2024 at 4:19 pm

“A nova explosion thousands of light years from Earth will disproportionately affect BIPOC and Transpeople, experts say’

– NPR, later this week.


 
 1 
 
 0
Concise | June 19, 2024 at 5:05 pm

Meh, If our sun goes nova, then maybe I’ll pay some attention.


 
 0 
 
 1
txvet2 | June 19, 2024 at 5:37 pm

You mean it will have occurred 3000 years ago this summer, right?


 
 0 
 
 0
destroycommunism | June 19, 2024 at 9:35 pm

and you thought the pinto was bad!


 
 0 
 
 1
scooterjay | June 19, 2024 at 11:35 pm

I have it on good authority that Biden saw it occur.


 
 0 
 
 0
E Howard Hunt | June 20, 2024 at 6:43 am

It was last seen dancing the Bossa Nova with Earl Long.

I blame global warming, systemic racism, and White nationalism!

Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.