Rare star explosion expected to be 'once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity,
Nova explosion to occur in 2024; astronomers say it happens every 80 years
Another special cosmic event is to occur this year, and it could be a "once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity," according to NASA.
It’s a nova explosion located in a star system 3,000 light years away from Earth and astronomers predict it will be visible to the "unaided eye" sometime in 2024.
"Unfortunately, we don't know the timing of this as well as we know the eclipse," Bill Cooke, lead for NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, told Fox News Digital.
T Coronae Borealis, nicknamed "the blaze star," is one of 10 known recurrent novas in the galaxy.
"A typical nova consists of a star, like a red giant — a star bigger than the sun — and a white dwarf, which is a star about the size of the Earth," Cooke said.
"And that red giant is dumping material on the surface of that white dwarf. They're orbiting each other, and they're real close together."
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On 20 April 2016, the Sky & Telescope website reported a sustained brightening since February 2015 from magnitude 10.5 to about 9.2. A similar event was reported in 1938, followed by another outburst in 1946.[22] By June 2018, the star had dimmed slightly but still remained at an unusually high level of activity. In March or April 2023, it dimmed to magnitude 12.3.[23] A similar dimming occurred in the year before the 1946 outburst, indicating that it will likely erupt between April and September 2024.[24]
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Nova explosion to occur in 2024; astronomers say it happens every 80 years
Another special cosmic event is to occur this year, and it could be a "once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity," according to NASA.
It’s a nova explosion located in a star system 3,000 light years away from Earth and astronomers predict it will be visible to the "unaided eye" sometime in 2024.
"Unfortunately, we don't know the timing of this as well as we know the eclipse," Bill Cooke, lead for NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, told Fox News Digital.
T Coronae Borealis, nicknamed "the blaze star," is one of 10 known recurrent novas in the galaxy.
"A typical nova consists of a star, like a red giant — a star bigger than the sun — and a white dwarf, which is a star about the size of the Earth," Cooke said.
"And that red giant is dumping material on the surface of that white dwarf. They're orbiting each other, and they're real close together."
Rare star explosion expected to be 'once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity,' NASA officials say
Astronomers predict that a star system located 3,000 light years away from planet Earth will become visible this year as a nova explosion is to occur, NASA officials say.
On 20 April 2016, the Sky & Telescope website reported a sustained brightening since February 2015 from magnitude 10.5 to about 9.2. A similar event was reported in 1938, followed by another outburst in 1946.[22] By June 2018, the star had dimmed slightly but still remained at an unusually high level of activity. In March or April 2023, it dimmed to magnitude 12.3.[23] A similar dimming occurred in the year before the 1946 outburst, indicating that it will likely erupt between April and September 2024.[24]