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New ‘Blaze Star’ to ignite in night sky ‘any day now’ and will be ultra-bright – constellation trick lets you find it
A German monk spotted the star in 1217
STARGAZERS are in for a treat when a mysterious star last spotted in 1946 lights up like a jewel within a crown-shaped constellation.
T Coronae Borealis - dubbed the “Blaze Star” - increases in brightness for just one week every 80 years.
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"The Blaze Star is a recurrent nova set to go off in the constellation Corona Borealis, marking its first eruption since 1946, reported , Washington, DC.
Corona Borealis is located 3,000 light years from Earth, and is home to a white dwarf star, T Coronae Borealis (T CrB/Blaze Star).
A nova is a star which shows a sudden large increase in brightness, before subsiding.
They are old stars which undergo a dramatic outburst, increasing in brightness by a factor of many thousands and returning to their original state over a period of several months.
Nasa said that the Blaze Star is expected to brighten significantly between now and September 2024.
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Stargazers should look towards the Corona Borealis, located between the constellations of Boötes and Hercules.
"The easiest way of finding Corona Borealis is by first locating some of the brightest stars in the summer night sky," said today in an update on the star's looming appearance.
"On any clear night, find the stars of the Big Dipper high in the northern sky.
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"Trace the Big Dipper's handle of stars in a curve to Arcturus, a bright, reddish star above the eastern horizon."
Vega can be seen in the east-northeast, and if you look between Arcturus and Vega (slightly closer to Arcturus) you should spot a faint crown of seven stars — Corona Borealis.
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"Though you won’t be able to see the Blaze Star yet, it should become clearly visible before summer’s end," it added.
And if you have problems trying to spot it, you could always download an app on your smartphone to point out the location of constellations and planets in the night sky.
Stargazing apps for Android and iPhone include SkySafari 7 Pro, SkyView Lite, and Star Walk 2.
This could be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity.
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The Blaze Star also intrigued a German monk back in 1217, when he recorded a normally faint object shining with unusual intensity, said .
"A wonderful sign was seen," Abbott Burchard wrote of the mysterious distant glow in that year's chronicle.
He also noted that it "shone with great light" for "many days" from the constellation Corona Borealis.
EXPLOSION
The medieval manuscript is believed to be among the first records of the unusual space phenomenon, said Live Science.
The Blaze Star's nova explosion will offer skywatchers a rare celestial spectacle, said GW University.
"This phenomenon, occurring approximately every 80 years, involves a sudden increase in brightness due to an explosion on the surface of a white dwarf star," it added.
What is the Corona Borealis constellation?
Corona Borealis is a small constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere.
It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy.
Its brightest stars form a semicircular arc.
There are seven stars that make up the constellation's distinctive crown-shaped pattern.
The constellation of Corona Borealis is located between Hercules and Boötes in the night sky.
Its brightest star is the Alpha Coronae Borealis.
There is also a yellow supergiant R Coronae Borealis.
T Coronae Borealis, also known as the Blaze Star, last flared up to magnitude 2 in 1946, and is predicted to do the same in 2024.
"This could be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity," said .
"The star system, normally magnitude +10, which is far too dim to see with the unaided eye, will jump to magnitude +2 during the event.
"This will be of similar brightness to the North Star, Polaris.
"Once its brightness peaks, it should be visible to the unaided eye for several days and just over a week with binoculars before it dims again, possibly for another 80 years."
THERMONUCLEAR
The Blaze Star's outburst will appear as a “new” bright star in Corona Borealis — a small, semicircular arc near Boötes and Hercules, Nasa added.
"This recurring nova is only one of five in our galaxy," it said.
"This happens because T CrB [Blaze Star] is a binary system [where a pair of stars orbit one another] with a white dwarf and red giant.
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"The stars are close enough that as the red giant becomes unstable from its increasing temperature and pressure, and begins ejecting its outer layers, the white dwarf collects that matter onto its surface.
"The shallow dense atmosphere of the white dwarf eventually heats enough to cause a runaway thermonuclear reaction – which produces the nova we see from Earth."
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