A faraway star may be ready to explode violently, adding a new star to the night sky. Located around 3,000 light-years from Earth, this distant star system is often too faint to be seen by the human eye.
According to NASA, T Coronae Borealis (T CrB) is anticipated to erupt this year, marking the first occurrence since 1946 and temporarily outshining the North Star Polaris. T CrB is one of only five known recurrent novae in our galaxy. A red giant and a white dwarf are the two stars in this binary system, which encircle each other.
Stars like the Sun produce white dwarfs as a byproduct of their nuclear fuel depletion. These massive, mostly electron-degenerate objects have Sun-like masses and Earth-like volumes. Since white dwarfs no longer experience fusion processes, they emit leftover thermal energy, which causes them to have a low brightness.
In the latter phases of stellar development, when stars like the Sun deplete their hydrogen fuel and start to die, a new kind of brilliant big star called a red giant arises. Stars with low to intermediate masses may have surface temperatures between 4,800 and 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit and up to hundreds of times bigger than our Sun. Because their energy is distributed across a vast region, red giants appear swollen, have cool temperatures at the surface, and appear vermillion.
Astronomers explain that the T CrB goes nova about once every hundred years due to a peculiarity of the red giant/white dwarf system. The red giant’s atmosphere is gradually being absorbed by the white dwarf, which is becoming larger and hotter as it absorbs hydrogen. The white dwarf eventually undergoes a thermonuclear reaction, which causes it to explode in a tremendous flash of light.
The white dwarf begins the cycle all over again after the nova, and it does this every eighty years. It is anticipated that T CrB will erupt again before September 2024.
Corona Borealis, often known as the Northern Crown, is where the new star will be visible to the naked eye. Those in urban areas may have a better chance of seeing the unusual occurrence, but those in darker areas will have the most incredible view overall.
