Astronomers expect the nova to appear in the night sky, which could appear anytime until September. NASA describes it as a rare event that offers a unique spectacle. The nova will appear in the constellation Corona Borealis, which is located between Boötes and Hercules in the Milky Way.
Unlike a supernova, which marks the demise of a massive star, a nova comes from the sudden eruption of a collapsed white dwarf. T Coronae Borealis, nicknamed the “Blaze Star”, is a binary system in Corona Borealis. It contains a dead white dwarf and an aging red giant star. Red giants are formed when stars exhaust their hydrogen fuel and grow larger as they near the end of their life cycle.
About every 79 years, T Coronae Borealis undergoes an explosive event due to the close interaction between its components. The red giant sheds its outer layers onto the white dwarf, causing its atmosphere to gradually heat up. Eventually, this triggers a thermonuclear reaction that leads to the nova phenomenon, as explained by NASA.
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About every 79 years, T Coronae Borealis experiences an explosive event. A star that has not been visible to the naked eye since the 1940s will appear in our night sky for a fleeting moment this year.
