Blaze Star Expected to Appear as a Nova This Summer

A binary star system named T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB to astronomers (also called the Blaze Star), is predicted to produce a nova visible to the naked eye sometime this summer. T CrB is composed of a white dwarf star and a red giant that are relatively near to each other, and 3,000 light years from earth. The nova has been called a "once in a lifetime event."

This is not a supernova, which is when a dying star explodes. A nova occurs when the white dwarf star, a star that has exhausted its nuclear fuel, builds up material it collects from the red giant. At a critical point, the white dwarf suddenly ejects that excess material with a huge burst of light. There's probably a lot of noise involved, too, but we won't get that. The nova does not destroy either star, and this ejection has been occurring every 80 years on average. It was first recorded in 1217, and the last burst was in 1946. Astronomers predict the nova this summer because their observations of the stars' behavior resembles the data that accompanied the beginning of the last nova. The T CrB nova will be visible for less than a week.

NASA explains what is happening when the T CrB nova occurs, although the story is told as if this were happening now. When the light of the nova reaches earth, we are seeing events that happened 3,000 years ago. NASA also gives us handy guide for finding the T CrB nova when it appears. -Thanks, WTM!

(Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)