A rare burst of light from a dead star will likely be visible to humans. Soil This summer, a temporary but potentially harsh celestial spectacle will occur that scientists are calling a “once-in-a-lifetime event.”
The technical term for the upcoming cosmic explosion is nova; This occurs when a white dwarf suddenly and often dramatically shines in the night sky. “White dwarf” is how astronomers describe a star at the end of its life cycle, after it has exhausted all of its nuclear fuel and has only its core remaining. On the contrary supernova A nova — another solar phenomenon visible from Earth when a star effectively explodes — instead refers to the dramatic ejection of material that a white dwarf has accumulated over time from a younger star in its immediate vicinity.
“This will give young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions and collect their own data, a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create many new astronomers,” said Rebekah Hounsell. Associate research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, specializing in nova events. “It will nourish the next generation of scientists.”
Scientists expect a nova to occur in the Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown, between now and September. Milky Way It will send a very powerful flash into space NASA recently announced that it can be seen with the naked eye. It will take place at a dark spot in the constellation where violent interactions between a white dwarf and a red giant will culminate in this massive explosion.
A red giant is a dying star in the final stage of its life cycle; As it expands, it becomes increasingly turbulent and periodically ejects material from its outer layers at dense intervals.
The white dwarf and red giant, together known as T Coronae Borealis and also called the “Flaming Star” and predicted to create a nova this summer, form a binary star system in the Northern Coronal, located about 3,000 light-years from Earth. According to NASA, the red giant in this pairing is constantly stripped of hydrogen as it continues its path towards complete collapse, while the nearby white dwarf pulls this material into its orbit. Hydrogen drawn from the red giant accumulates on the surface of the white dwarf for several decades until the heat and pressure reach levels sufficient to cause a full-blown thermonuclear explosion.
The explosion, which looks like a nuclear bomb, destroys the dead star This is from too much material. The burst will likely be visible on Earth for about a week before fading away again, but both the white dwarf and red giant in the Blaze Star system will still remain intact when it fades. At this point, the process of hydrogen accumulation between the two stars begins again, and the accumulation of matter on the white dwarf will continue until the next time it reaches its threshold and suddenly explodes.
Different binary systems, such as T Coronae Borealis, move at different speeds in this cycle. A nova usually erupts from Blaze Star about every 80 years.
Skywatchers are on the edge of their seats due to the possible nova explosion of T Coronae Borealis in the coming months! To learn more about this recurring cosmic event, scientists are ready to observe it with space- and ground-based telescopes. https://t.co/jlo4loldUo pic.twitter.com/I1c6RUhwVF
— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) June 7, 2024
“There are a few recurring novae with very short cycles, but we generally do not see a repeated eruption within a human lifetime, and we rarely see an eruption relatively close to our own system,” Hounsell said. “Having this front row seat is incredibly exciting.”
When the nova in T Coronae Borealis eventually emerges, it will be the first pairing witnessed on Earth since 1946, according to NASA. The agency advised hopeful stargazers to look for the Northern Crown, which it describes as a “horseshoe-shaped curve of stars west of the constellation Hercules” on clear nights. NASA also encouraged citizens to observe the phenomenon whenever they could, although its own scientists would study the nova during its peak and decline periods.
“But obtaining data during the early rise of the eruption is equally critical,” Hounsell said, “so the data collected by enthusiastic citizen scientists searching for the nova now will contribute significantly to our findings.”
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