80 years ago, there was a “nova” in the constellation of the Northern Crown. It can be seen with the naked eye from the ground: PPTVHD36

NASA revealed that this year there will be a rare phenomenon known as a “nova,” or the explosion of a star so distant that it can be seen with the naked eye.

NASA revealed that in 2024 there will be a rare phenomenon that will take nearly 80 years to occur once. What is interesting is that it can be viewed from our sky with the naked eye.

Astronomers believe that between February and September of this year there will be an eruption or nova of the star system T Coronae Borealis (T Coronae Borealis) or T CrB, which is 3,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Corona Borealis, near the constellations. Boots and Hercules.

The last time T CrB erupted was in 1946, making this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the phenomenon.

In astronomy there is a measure of the brightness of objects in space called “magnitude”, the higher this value of the object, the darker it is and the lower the value. Especially negative values ​​will be brighter.

The T CrB star system typically has a brightness of +10, and is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. But when a nova occurs it will brighten to +2, or similar to the brightness of the North Star (Polaris), and will be visible to the naked eye for several days, perhaps more than a week, before dimming again, requiring another 80 years to occur. more time

In our Milky Way Galaxy there are only 5 places where novae can occur, T CrB is one of them.

The reason for the nova is because T CrB is a binary star system in which the white dwarf and the red giant orbit each other close enough to make the red giant unstable due to the increase in temperature and pressure.

Then the red giant's outer layer begins to peel off. It is attracted to the white dwarf, and collects that material on its surface. When it accumulates enough it will cause a thermonuclear reaction. This creates the novae we see from Earth.

“This may be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity because supernova explosions only occur every 80 years,” NASA officials said in a statement.

Compiled from NASA