Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Science & Technology

Earlier seen in 1946, T Coronae Borealis to dazzle the sky again

Sky gazers can look for another astral vista as T Coronae Borealis - a binary star system 3,000 light-years away, is set for a luminous outburst that could grace Earth’s night sky sometime between now and September.

Saturday April 6, 2024 10:05 PM, ummid.com Science Desk

[Image for representation]

Mumbai: Sky gazers can look for another astral vista as T Coronae Borealis - a binary star system 3,000 light-years away, is set for a luminous outburst that could grace Earth’s night sky sometime between now and September.

The once in 80-years seen astral event which will be observable with naked eyes signifies the third known opportunity for humankind to witness such a stellar performance.

This recurrent nova, a rarity among the cosmos, promises stargazers an unrivalled show that has only been observed by human eyes twice before – first in 1866 and then in 1946.

The phenomenon is due to a dance of death between two stars - a red giant, in its expansive twilight years, and its partner, a dense white dwarf.

The two stars exist so close to each other that the red giant’s ejection accumulates on the white dwarf, eventually leading to a thermonuclear eruption once sufficient mass amasses.

The light from the blast travels through the cosmos and makes it appear as if a new star -- as bright as the North Star, according to NASA -- has suddenly just popped up in our night sky for a few days.

There are only around 10 recurring novas in the Milky Way and surrounding galaxies, Sumner Starrfield, an astronomer at Arizona State University, told news agency AFP.

Normal novas explode "maybe every 100,000 years," he said. But recurrent novas repeat their outbursts on a human timeline because of a peculiar relationship between their two stars.

The James Webb space telescope will be just one of the many eyes that turn towards the outburst of T Coronae Borealis once it begins, Joachim Krautter, a retired German astronomer, told AFP.

But you do not need such advanced technology to witness this rare event -- whenever it may happen.

"You simply have to go out and look in the direction of the Corona Borealis," Krautter said.

 

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.

 

..