NASA predicts once-in-80-years cosmic explosion. When and how to watch with naked eye

This year, both professional and amateur astronomers will be focused on a small constellation in the night sky. Unlike the stars of Corona Borealis, the “Northern Crown,” the attention is on a dark spot where a rare nova event is expected to occur. This event will be so bright that it will be visible to the naked eye from Earth.

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Event

Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA‘s Goddard Space Flight Center, highlights the significance of this event. She believes it will inspire many young people to observe the cosmic phenomenon, fostering the next generation of scientists.

The Blaze Star: T Coronae Borealis

Known as T Coronae Borealis, or “T CrB,” this binary system is located about 3,000 light-years from Earth in the Northern Crown. It consists of a white dwarf, an Earth-sized remnant of a dead star with a mass similar to the Sun, and a red giant being stripped of hydrogen by the white dwarf’s gravitational pull. The hydrogen accumulates on the white dwarf’s surface, leading to a thermonuclear explosion that blasts away the accumulated material. This event reoccurs approximately every 80 years.

Nova vs. Supernova

Dr. Hounsell explains the difference between a nova and a supernova. A nova involves a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf, sending material into space but leaving the star intact. In contrast, a supernova is a catastrophic explosion that destroys a dying star. Novae repeat over tens or hundreds of thousands of years, making T CrB’s relatively short cycle particularly exciting for astronomers.

Historical Sightings and Predictions

The first recorded sighting of the T CrB nova dates back to 1217 when Burchard, the abbot of Ursberg, Germany, noted a faint star shining brightly for a time. The last visible nova event from T CrB occurred in 1946. Recent behavior of T CrB suggests a similar pattern to the one leading up to the 1946 eruption, indicating a possible nova event by September 2024.

Spotting the Northern Crown

The Northern Crown, a horseshoe-shaped constellation west of Hercules, can be identified by tracing a line between the bright stars Arcturus and Vega. Stargazers should look for this constellation on clear nights to witness the brief but spectacular nova event.

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been observing gamma rays since 2008, is poised to monitor T CrB’s eruption. Other missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, IXPE, NuSTAR, NICER, and the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL, will also observe the event. Ground-based telescopes like the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array will participate, capturing data across the light spectrum.